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Which Small Combo Amp.

bassliner50

bassliner50

Mar 20, 2012
5,049
6,333
76
Long Island New York
#1
Most of the gigs I do recently happily do not require large amps (though I have a few of those.) I have been thinking I would like to buy a Fender Rumble 100 V3 or Ibanez Promethean. Quality of sound matters, a very light weight combo is a big plus. Can anyone inform me on which may be a better choice? I do mostly jazz gigs with a piano trio or quartet and play a P most of the time. To me, the Rumble100 has less power and a 12" speaker, the Promethean on the other hand has more power but a 10" speaker. How do these trade offs weigh into things? Are there other similar amps I may wanna consider? I would appreciate any advice to aid my decision.
 
#2
IME the larger speaker is the way to go if your sure you won't be adding cabs down the road. You said you had big amps already?

I would also suggest you look into the Traynor SB12 combo. It's light weight and sounds really really good. It's also at a fantastic price point if you can get your hands on one in your area.
 
#5
I played a Fender Rumble V3 today and although I thought the amp was excellent the cabs ability to project seemed to lack a little. Like the sound was boxy and trapped. I think it's still an amazing value for what you get but IMO it's still worth comparing with some of the other available combos. That TC looks nice but I can't speak to how it performs.

It seems like all these manufacturers take slight concessions in the cabinet portion of these combos in order to complete at a certain price point.
 
#6
Differences in power are much less critical than speaker size and box volume. Beware of combos that have the entire baffle taken up by the driver - check for additional depth to ensure adequate box volume. A big driver in a small box yields strong upper bass peaking. Some players prefer that tone, but more experienced players grow tired of the poor note definition and inability to cut through and hear themselves when playing with music. And its difficult to eq out. Why bother when you can buy an optimally designed combo (or bass cab). A 112 combo should have an overall volume of at least 2.25 cf. A 110 combo should have at least 1.5 cf.
 
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#7
I will take away good stuff as a result of reading players experience and impressions of these very practical combos. The trade offs are ease of transport, cost and sound quality. Astro Sonic made an important point of speaker size and cabinet volume being a more critical factor than power (as measured in RMS watts. The Traynor SB12 looks interesting as does the TC electronics BG250. I'd like to keep the cost in the under $400 area if possible. Next week I will go to GC and plug into the Rumble 100 v3. At least they are easy to find.
 
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#12
hsech said:
If you can spring the cash, I highly recommend a Markbass CMD-112P combo.
Click to expand...

ABSOLUTELY - There is nothing near this size (14" cube) that can compete with sound quality and ability to get scary LOUD. My neighborhood super pros borrow mine all the time for local club gigs. You can play any indoor gig with this amp. I don't add my extension cab until the gig is outdoors.
 
#15
I'm not sure what you have for your larger amps, but, if you have a lightweight head, you could get a light 112 like the Audiokinesis Hathor 1203 (http://www.audiokinesis.com/hathor-1203.html): very capable 12 inch, bass and treble very adjustable, and 25 lbs. Wide range with plenty of bass depth and superb note definition. Other contenders include the GK Neo 112, Acme Low B-1 or one of the Greenboy-designed compacts (F110, f112, Crazy 88). The tone will totally destroy any combo (with the possible exception of the AER combo's).
 
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#16
AstroSonic said:
I'm not sure what you have for your larger amps, but, if you have a lightweight head, you could get a light 112 like the Audiokinesis Hathor 1203 (http://www.audiokinesis.com/hathor-1203.html): very capable 12 inch, bass and treble very adjustable, and 25 lbs. Wide range with plenty of bass depth and superb note definition. Other contenders include the GK Neo 112, Acme Low B-1 or one of the greenly-designed compacts (F110, f112, Crazy 88). The tone will totally destroy any combo (with the possible exception of the AER combo's).
Click to expand...
Well, lets see...Presently, I have a SWR 400s head which I use when I need to be outdoors with an EV15b in an old Sunn cabinet. I also have a Fender bassman 250 (a 2X10 X 250 watts) combo.
A Hartke Kickback 12 combo, a Hartke Kickback 10 combo. It is the Hartke Kickback 10 which has by far been my most frequent gig amp lately. It is that Kickback 10 which has begun to fail on me and I am looking to replace.... The other larger amps I use when I must, but are just too bloody heavy and overkill to use on most of the very tame gigs I have been getting lately.
 
#17
AstroSonic said:
I'm not sure what you have for your larger amps, but, if you have a lightweight head, you could get a light 112 like the Audiokinesis Hathor 1203 (http://www.audiokinesis.com/hathor-1203.html): very capable 12 inch, bass and treble very adjustable, and 25 lbs. Wide range with plenty of bass depth and superb note definition. Other contenders include the GK Neo 112, Acme Low B-1 or one of the greenly-designed compacts (F110, f112, Crazy 88). The tone will totally destroy any combo (with the possible exception of the AER combo's).
Click to expand...
bassliner50 said:
Well, lets see...Presently, I have a SWR 400s head which I use when I need to be outdoors with an EV15b in an old Sunn cabinet. I also have a Fender bassman 250 (a 2X10 X 250 watts) combo.
A Hartke Kickback 12 combo, a Hartke Kickback 10 combo. It is the Hartke Kickback 10 which has by far been my most frequent gig amp lately. It is that Kickback 10 which has begun to fail on me and I am looking to replace.... The other larger amps I use when I must, but are just too bloody heavy and overkill to use on most of the very tame gigs I have been getting lately.
Click to expand...
The Hathor is tremendous & AudioKinesis/Duke is very top-notch, no doubt. The 1203 ain't cheap, though, that's all. But if you have the wherewithal, yeah, this cab & a good amp will blow away any & all combo amps.
 
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#18
bassliner50 said:
Well, lets see...Presently, I have a SWR 400s head which I use when I need to be outdoors with an EV15b in an old Sunn cabinet. I also have a Fender bassman 250 (a 2X10 X 250 watts) combo.
A Hartke Kickback 12 combo, a Hartke Kickback 10 combo. It is the Hartke Kickback 10 which has by far been my most frequent gig amp lately. It is that Kickback 10 which has begun to fail on me and I am looking to replace.... The other larger amps I use when I must, but are just too bloody heavy and overkill to use on most of the very tame gigs I have been getting lately.
Click to expand...

The kickback 12 weighs 43 lbs, and the Kickback 10, 30 lbs. The Hathor, and any of several class D heads (about 5 lbs) would come in at the same weight as the Kickback 10, and about the size as the Kickback 12. Such a rig could (performance wise) replace all but your SM400s & EV/Sunn, and would probably come close to that. Just a thought.

Not sure what went wrong with your Kickback 10, but it may have been a little less muscle than was occasionally needed. You might want to give yourself a little headroom. The Rumble 100 offers some improvement and weighs significantly less (22 lbs). Going to something like the Rumble 200 1x15 would be a substantial gain in power and performance (and weight - 35 lbs). The GK MB112II is also worth a look: 200w, 12" ported, 28 lbs. You will likely be able to audition the Fender's, GK's and the Markbass - all worthy contenders.
 
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#20
^^^ Then a 1203 & your favorite Class-D amp will work great for you.

GK MB-500/MB-800 or MB Fusion-500/800. Aguilar ToneHammer 350/500. Orange Terror Bass 500/1000. GB Streamliner 600/900 or Shuttle 6.0/9.0. All fine choices.
 

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