whats better combo or separate.

[freshpots]

I agree with many above. It is primarily dependent on your intended use, storage space, and wallet. Both heads and cabs place their own special sauce on your signal. Personally I have a few different head/cab combinations that I use for different bands and venues depending on size and atmosphere. I sometimes don’t bring the nice gear to sketchy places

 

[beans-on-toast]

If the combo’s amplifier is designed to take the pressure waves and subsequent vibrations inside the cabinet, it is fine. Heat dissipation is another concern. Not all are designed well enough to avoid these issues, far from it.

My preference is separate. It spreads the weight out and allows me to place the head remotely near me when recording. Easy access to controls, no fan noise.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I recommend referencing the Combo’s or Separate’s for Dummies publication.

I saw this in the Wiki section…

 

[BassyBill]

I’ve used both over the years, about equally. There are definite advantages to a combo but those disappear at least partially when you start using any sort of extension cab with it. I giggled with a 210 combo and 115 extension cab for years, but nowadays my preferred setup is a head plus 212. I just wish my health was good enough for me to get back out gigging…

 

[Ggaa]

Head and cab(s) on stage. Combo for rehearsals, Rumble 100.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

It really depends on the gig. For 90% of the gigs discussed on TB, a good combo will cover it. Separates give you more flexibility, combos give more convenience. Just don't think that a 25 W, 8" combo is going to cover the same range as a 15" Walkabout Scout. The old rule of thumb used to be that you need at least 15" and 300W. The better speaker technology of today expands that definition to include a 12" or a 2x10", but the rule of thumb probably isn't bad as a starting point. You can always turn down, but your gear limits you ability to turn up.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I prefer a separate head and cabs.

1. Keep a cab where you rehearse and practice, so you only have to travel there with bass and head.
2. Smaller/lighter pieces, easier to stow.
3. More flexibility when you try things.
Non-tube head is instant DI.

But both can work fine.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I'm in the same boat...selling-off one of two larger gig-worthy rigs and (hopefully) replacing with a smaller ~2 x 10 combo and possibly an ext. cab (...MarkBass?...Rumble?). The "geography" (combo-loaded or separate) of the amp is not that important unless there's a logistical or reliability issue I've overlooked. I'm figuring on sticking the combo in our rehearsal space and keeping the ext. cab at home paired with a cast-off Trace Elliott amp. This affords some flexibility as I can use *the big-rig, *the combo, or *the combo paired with the ext.cab depending on how the mood strikes me.

Riis

 

[JohnnyChatter]

It’s all opinion and personal experience but I vote separate. It’s really not that much harder to plug a head into a cab or two. I feel like my combos that were big enough for large gigs with no house support were always heavy. I also practice with my band without P.A. Support and have found in my experience when I push a combo they start to fall apart. It’s also easier to slowly upgrade when your cab and head are separate. I honestly don’t think I have had a matching rig in years. Also… if your head has an issue and isn’t repairable you are left with a strange cab that you will have a hard time reselling. Whenever I see combo cabs with dead heads for sale I just kinda keep scrolling.

If your looking just to practice with it or play small coffee house gigs a combo I bet would work just fine. Several tilt up so you can hear the speaker better on stage. I just personally have never had luck with one.

 

[G On Bass]

I'm moving away from separates, having just sold my tube head w/2x112s and am moving to a 500W 210 combo: Either an Ampeg RB210 or the Fender Rumble 500. I plan on using that as often as possible just for ease, convenience and weight. With combos offering extension cab options these days, that's a pretty good selling point, IMHO. I am hoping I don't have to play loud enough to need an extension under it, but I'll go that route if I have to.

 

[basslicks]

I have completely scaled everything WAY back and am operating under the bare essentials (mostly due to a money situation, the GAS is still there - but the wallet is not willing).

Anyway, anymore I have like the most basic setup possible and I actually enjoy it more than when I had a bunch of toys, there's just something about the simplicity. Yeah it's not going to win any awards or anything, but now I just use a Fender Rumble 500 combo. It has more than enough oomph for what I do, it's super lightweight for the amount of power, and it's something I can chuck in the front seat of my tiny Corolla. Yeah a compact head/cab probably wouldn't eat up much more room, but I just like having one thing to grab. It actually pretty crazy how much noise I can make with this simplified setup!

 

[Medicine Man]

I grab a Markbass combo for rehersals and small gigs, but need heavier artillery at times. My gig last night my combo wouldnt have cut it. With these new light cabs like Mesa Subway and Barefaced, you can get a setup that is just as portable as a combo, but it is modular if you need to expand. If you must combo, get one that supports an extension cab just in case.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

I used to use all combos. After crossing a certain age. Back injury, i found that amp/cab is better for me. You can get compact lightweight cabs. I have a Hartke HD210 cab that is compact, 32 lbs, sounds great, plenty of sound at our no FOH gig. Need more sound? Add another cab. Backup? No problem, I have a peavey tour450 I paid $110 that is a perfect backup. Plus it is an excuse to own a couple of heads & cabinets.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

I'm still up in the air about getting a amp. I could either go with two 1x12 cabinets and a head, or a grab and go GK legacy or similar 1x12 combo and add another 1x12 bottom. I suppose there are pros and cons on each.

I had a SWR combo, I added a correct ohm SWR cab to it. I thought the heat sink was going to melt! Seriously, you could not touch it. Last time I tried that. Sold my combos and now use amp/cab. A little more work, but I like the sound better

 

[SteveCS]

Or a bit of each...

 

[Deleted member 365158]

I have a few amps and a few cabs of different makes types whatever.
The best part about them not being combos is i can (and have) set them up in many different configurations…. Double 15, 4x10 on top of 15, 12 on top of 15.
My favorite for in home use was the 4x10 on top of the 15 with my bi amp Carvin running them (lows to the 15, mids and highs to the 4x10) and a small SWR running a 12, my fuzz pedal has a dirty and clean out so i ran the clean to the stack and the dirty to the 12…. That was pretty darn cool.

as well, i have just used a single amp and cab depending on the situation and for practice, i just use the DI on the head to my mixer and we use in ears for monitors so I don’t use the cab other than a stand for the head.

I like modular and versatile.

 

[Jefenator]

Amps can be a wear item IME, as can speakers. But they usually won't go at the same time. That makes a decent case for separate heads & cabs for heavier use over the long haul IMHO.
Combos can be handy sometimes. I do miss my little G/K MB150 that recently died.
Replacing it is not a super urgent priority, though. Not while I have a 1x10 cab that covers those lower volume situations quite conveniently – and convincingly. (I'm a bit neurotic about workflow but even I have no problem spending an extra 20 seconds to deal with the separate head in the laptop bag & hooking up a speaker cable each time.)
OTOH that cab is getting pretty old now. So you never know. I'll keep an open mind as I mull what might work best for the gigs I'm likely to be playing.

 

[mike buzzetti]

 

[Verticos]

If you like the amp portion of any given combo (and if it's reasonably powerful) you can always add extension cabs. Having the option to have a single-hand carry might be more important to you than the added flexibility of a separate head and cab. My 2¢:

I've been carting around a 210 and an amp in a rackmount case for a more than a decade. It was tolerable for a large portion of that, but in the last few years I've also built out a pedalboard. That was one more thing than I had hands (and back) to carry in a single trip, which started to get annoying. Also, setting up and tearing down the piecemeal kit at every rehearsal was a chore when I was using it 5+ nights a week - you have to take the front and back off the rack (or take the amp out of the softcase), grab your speaker cable, etc. And during periods when I was gigging heavily, I'd rarely want to get home after a gig and set up the rig at home only to tear it down the next day. This discouraged me from practicing, an unexpected knock-on effect.

I got a combo a few months ago and love it. It's great to keep the power cable in my bass case and just grab one item on the way out the door. If I had to have only one amp, I think I'd go with a decently-sized combo. I got a 115 (Rumble 200).

Also, there's no reason you can't eventually have both if you wish. I went from a midsize rig of separate amp and cab to a combo, and soon I'll also have a "big rig" 215 as well to go with my standalone amp. The idea is that the big rig will mostly stay at home, always set up for practice, and the combo will stay packed and ready to walk out the door.

 

[magic8161]

I prefer a separate head and cabs.

1. Keep a cab where you rehearse and practice, so you only have to travel there with bass and head.
2. Smaller/lighter pieces, easier to stow.
3. More flexibility when you try things.
Non-tube head is instant DI.

But both can work fine.

We only rehearse once a year maybe and then we rent a studio woth all the equipment there already. all hut one or 2 gigs a year has Sound company backing. But I found a few gigs we do the sound guy cant dial me in so that when ill use a amp.