Why a Combo?

[brianrost]

Yeah, I get it, but this thread was about combos. I think you can always get a better sound out of a good head/cab pairing.

I was just responding to a post asking why people mentioned they didn’t like the sound of Rumbles. So I gave my reasons. I also gave my reasons earlier why I liked some combos a lot, even though I also gigged with head/cab rigs.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have combos and separates.

Justifications for combo (IMHO):
1. All in one integrated solution--less crap to worry about.
2. Not necessarily cheaper, but may represent a better cost VS performance value. Might be cheaper to.

When I was a pro bassist, I typically use small grab N go combos for jazz background music. For louder rigs I used separates. Last touring rig was a 16-sp rolling rack with a 260Wpc power amp, tuner, mixer, rack drawer etc. Speakers were my choice of Eden D210XLT and/or D410XLT. I typically use the 210 and one side of the power amp.

I was a military musician and gear for official gigs was provided. I needed personal gear for civilian gigs. I bought a GK 700RB/112 combo. This is a fairly large and heavy combo amp but it fit in the trunk of my Dodge Neon and it has a telescoping handle and tilts back and rolls like airport luggage. It worked well for downtown gigs where parking might be a considerable distance from the gig site. One trip from the car.

The 700RB was rated 225W with the internal 12" and 380W if I added an 8 ohm extension. I barely got the job done on louder gigs, so when reasonable I started using an extension cab.

I wound up asking my military unit to buy the same 700RB/112 combo for me. I used it mainly as my rehearsal rig and for local jazz combo gigs. Previously I had used much smaller rigs for jazz combo.

Thank you for your service. I hope the military band program continues as it is an important part of our culture, but I’m afraid budget hawks are circling and expect some reductions.

 

[Wasnex]

Thank you for your service. I hope the military band program continues as it is an important part of our culture, but I’m afraid budget hawks are circling and expect some reductions.

Thanks. It was a great career for me and I feel blessed to have found the path. I can't think of a better job for me and I also can't think of any other way where I would have been a professional musician. But the job is definitely not for everyone.

The military band program has been shrinking for decades. During my time, the Air Force program was cut approximately in half on two occasions. The last restructure which was realized almost 15 years ago cut a few bands, but also increased manning in many of the remaining bands from 45 to ~60. IMHO a military band under 60 tends to be severely impacted by vacancies, so part of this restructure made the career field stronger in some ways.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Thanks. It was a great career for me and I feel blessed to have found the path. I can't think of a better job for me and I also can't think of any other way where I would have been a professional musician. But the job is definitely not for everyone.

The military band program has been shrinking for decades. During my time, the Air Force program was cut approximately in half on two occasions. The last restructure which was realized almost 15 years ago cut a few bands, but also increased manning in many of the remaining bands from 45 to ~60. IMHO a military band under 60 tends to be severely impacted by vacancies, so part of this restructure made the career field stronger in some way

Towards the end of my son’s career, the Marines’ the fleet bands have been taken over by classic indoctrinated officers who are of the opinion the only music a Military band should be playing are Sousa marches. Or as he said, “‘the joints been taken over by flute players”…. Pretty much most his career was recruiting (which is the whole point of the exercise btw), developing, and performing in various rock band ensembles, and these guys rocked. And so with the change in “management” objective, his last contract he became a sound engineer.

 

[RattleSnack]

For me - obviously there's the convenience of having the whole amp in a single box. One less step to set up, and I'm rarely in gig settings where I need a bass stack.

But the other critical thing is that, some years ago, I started bi-amping, splitting an octave-up signal to send to a guitar amp. It helps a lot to fill in the frequency range when the guitarist solos (and it's just him, me and a drummer). I actually bought amps checking the width dimensions so that they could sit neatly one on top of the other...
View attachment 7356727

For bigger stages, and where there's more instruments so I don't need to fill under guitar solos, I sometimes bring a vertical 4x10 stack...
View attachment 7356728

That's one cool looking customized Yamaha! Is it BB415?

 

[hrodbert696]

That's one cool looking customized Yamaha! Is it BB415?

Yep. I got bored of the plain red color and commissioned a vinyl decal. The art is an Adam Hughes portrait of Batgirl. He actually came to do a signing in a local comic shop and I got him to initial the upper horn. Back when I had long hair and a beard...