Why aren't there more kickback/wedge bass amps?

[MrLenny1]

I have a Fearless 1x12 that can be used as a tilt back
or stand vertically. Pricey though. When I gig outside
I drive it with a Markbass 1x12 Combo at 500 watt output.

 

[Brian Patterson]

I would love to have options for a powerful 210 kickback or even a 212. I really like having the sound hit me in the face and not in the back of my legs. That's the main reason I gig with a QSC CP12 monitor & a preamp pedal. But sometimes, I'd prefer a simple bass amp/cab combo.

I know MarkBass has one. I owned it for a while and it was super convenient, but it was only 300W and a little heavier than I would like. There used to be an SWR Super Redhead. It was heavy but sounded great. I think GK had one in the early 2000s too. Ashdown used to have a 210 and still offers a 112. Hartke also has a couple, but I'm not a huge Hartke guy. I think, ultimately, I'd dig a 500W GK kickback/wedge.

And while I know there are foam wedges and racks you can put your amp in (if it fits) a kickback just seems to make so much sense to me. I honestly wonder why more amp companies don't make them.

Does it have something to do with the cabinet and resonance or something? Or maybe they're not as prevalent as technology trends toward IEMs and better monitor mixes?? Or is there just no demand?

Curious... does anyone here think a kickback/wedge is more functional than a normal amp?

I chose my Acoustic B100c for its kickback cab design, but a pair of tilt back legs works for everyone.
More important to me is getting the amp off the floor at home to reach its controls, so I built a riser to get all those knobs within arm's reach.

 

[coyote1]

IEM’s are a little too prophylactic for some people.

I’ve tried ‘em. Hate ‘em. As soon as you get to a certain FOH level, the IEMs have to be turned up loud enough to be painful. And that painful level, being injected directly into your ears, is worse than loud stage monitors. At least with floor monitors, you can step away for a few moments for occasional respite.

 

[badinage]

...More important to me is getting the amp off the floor at home to reach its controls, so I built a riser to get all those knobs within arm's reach.

A re-purposed single-X cheapo keyboard stand will get it off the floor and offer variable tilt. Here's an old photo of my (pre-expiration) CMD121P, laying on it's side in one of those. Additionally, the pilot light doesn't face the audience and the controls are easily accessible by my right hand. This was at a regular and ostensibly IEM gig, but (often unexpected) guests were frequent, and some of them were not IEM friendly, so I was often pulling one out so I could hear the house and sidefills. The bass amp was pretty necessary.

 

[azureblue]

I just use an amp stand.. Raises the amp and tilts it back..

 

[tb-player]

I'm tempted to pull the plug on this Bugera, but know nothing about them, local place doesn't have them of course..

I bought one of those years ago when they first came out. Sent it back within a couple of days. Some may love it but to me it sounded extremely meh.

 

[tb-player]

Just repping GK on this topic.....

View attachment 5495065 View attachment 5495067

I love that format. But those things are like 60lb+. You'd need the handle and wheels just to survive. Build that with today's lighter amp & speaker technology and they could have a real winner.

 

[shoot-r]

Any issues with the head slipping backwards? The thread so far has been about combos but with the current trend of small lightweight cabs a new piggy back method may be in order.

No sir, nothing has slipped off the cab.

That's a G.K. Fusion MB800 head and there's also a SansAmp BDDI V2 sitting on top of the cab next to the head.
Both have rubber feet.
The Berg cab is a CN212, it has the Carbon fiber type of covering.
Neither the head or BDDI has ever hinted at going anywhere.

Now you set a can of adult beverage on there I can guarantee it'll probably walk off!

 

[Snert]

The thread so far has been about combos but with the current trend of small lightweight cabs a new piggy back method may be in order.

Black tie down strap, basically invisible to anyone else, takes up little space in the gig bag and $5.

 

[Pep]

Hartke KB15. Don't do the 12". It's not nearly as good.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I saw a local guy, I think it was Russ Rodgers that used a standard cabinet kicked back. So how do you put the head on top where you can get to the knobs? He mounted it to a pedalboard and then hung the legs of the pedalboard over the edge of the cabinet. I think it was a Pedaltrain pedalboard. I can't find the picture now.

 

[darwin-bass]

Kick-back is more useful, more versatile. But more costly to build and leads to larger boxes. They also don't look as good. I think folks value the benefits less than they want to avoid the costs.

My one smallish combo is a basic box. I can sit on it while I practice.

For gigs, I'm 100% IEM so I get all the clarity I need from that.

 

[Brian Patterson]

Kick-back is more useful, more versatile. But more costly to build and leads to larger boxes. They also don't look as good. I think folks value the benefits less than they want to avoid the costs.

My one smallish combo is a basic box. I can sit on it while I practice.

For gigs, I'm 100% IEM so I get all the clarity I need from that.

That's what made the Acoustic B100c such a perfect home solution - plenty of wattage, small size and kickback cabinet. I do wish they had followed the Gallen kickback design for the controls, etc.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I would love to have options for a powerful 210 kickback or even a 212. I really like having the sound hit me in the face and not in the back of my legs. That's the main reason I gig with a QSC CP12 monitor & a preamp pedal. But sometimes, I'd prefer a simple bass amp/cab combo.

I know MarkBass has one. I owned it for a while and it was super convenient, but it was only 300W and a little heavier than I would like. There used to be an SWR Super Redhead. It was heavy but sounded great. I think GK had one in the early 2000s too. Ashdown used to have a 210 and still offers a 112. Hartke also has a couple, but I'm not a huge Hartke guy. I think, ultimately, I'd dig a 500W GK kickback/wedge.

And while I know there are foam wedges and racks you can put your amp in (if it fits) a kickback just seems to make so much sense to me. I honestly wonder why more amp companies don't make them.

Does it have something to do with the cabinet and resonance or something? Or maybe they're not as prevalent as technology trends toward IEMs and better monitor mixes?? Or is there just no demand?

Curious... does anyone here think a kickback/wedge is more functional than a normal amp?

The short answer is yes because it gets short cabs off the floor pointed up at you so you can hear it a lot better. Problem is that there's just not enough demand for them to see them everywhere. Back in 1997 they were in the Eden catalog with a few different options - a 112 and two different 210's. The best selling one was the D210MBX. It was a D21XLT in wedge form. Others fell by the wayside but that one stayed in the catalog until 2008. David had left Eden before the 2009 catalog came out and it was no longer in there.

I just use a $40 amp stand from Musicians Friend (or was it Sweetwater??) to hold my DNS-210 cab (52-lbs.). I can and do primarily use my DNS-210 on that amp stand, but I can also stack it on top of my 410...as long as I stand well away from it. On top of my 410 it puts those speakers just under my ear level. I had to move the stack twice before I could get out of its 60° dispersal pattern because I was on a pie-wedge slice of the stage with very little room. It was physically painful to be standing within about 3 or 4-ft. in front of it. Finally got it moved over and forward enough to stop the pain.

This works great, cost $40, and cab designer doesn't have to make, store, and sell both a straight up and a wedge version:

 

[MidnightRadio]

Genz Benz Shuttle cabs have a built in tilt back kickstand on the bottom - I had one for awhile before I even noticed it! Works well, especially with the Shuttle amp holder on top. They pop up used here and there....great rig!

 

[terlewine]

I use a short screw-on table leg under my cab. I fastened the leg's threaded plate on the bottom, and painted leg and plate black:

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I would love to have options for a powerful 210 kickback or even a 212. I really like having the sound hit me in the face and not in the back of my legs. That's the main reason I gig with a QSC CP12 monitor & a preamp pedal. But sometimes, I'd prefer a simple bass amp/cab combo.

I know MarkBass has one. I owned it for a while and it was super convenient, but it was only 300W and a little heavier than I would like. There used to be an SWR Super Redhead. It was heavy but sounded great. I think GK had one in the early 2000s too. Ashdown used to have a 210 and still offers a 112. Hartke also has a couple, but I'm not a huge Hartke guy. I think, ultimately, I'd dig a 500W GK kickback/wedge.

And while I know there are foam wedges and racks you can put your amp in (if it fits) a kickback just seems to make so much sense to me. I honestly wonder why more amp companies don't make them.

Does it have something to do with the cabinet and resonance or something? Or maybe they're not as prevalent as technology trends toward IEMs and better monitor mixes?? Or is there just no demand?

Curious... does anyone here think a kickback/wedge is more functional than a normal amp?

‘Eden had a wedge cab as well. The scuttlebutt was they just didn’t sound as good.

 

[rickwebb]

I would love to have options for a powerful 210 kickback or even a 212. I really like having the sound hit me in the face and not in the back of my legs. That's the main reason I gig with a QSC CP12 monitor & a preamp pedal. But sometimes, I'd prefer a simple bass amp/cab combo.

I know MarkBass has one. I owned it for a while and it was super convenient, but it was only 300W and a little heavier than I would like. There used to be an SWR Super Redhead. It was heavy but sounded great. I think GK had one in the early 2000s too. Ashdown used to have a 210 and still offers a 112. Hartke also has a couple, but I'm not a huge Hartke guy. I think, ultimately, I'd dig a 500W GK kickback/wedge.

And while I know there are foam wedges and racks you can put your amp in (if it fits) a kickback just seems to make so much sense to me. I honestly wonder why more amp companies don't make them.

Does it have something to do with the cabinet and resonance or something? Or maybe they're not as prevalent as technology trends toward IEMs and better monitor mixes?? Or is there just no demand?

Curious... does anyone here think a kickback/wedge is more functional than a normal amp?

I have an Ampeg BA-210-V2 here that works great as a wedge monitor. I don't know why Yamaha/Ampeg discontinued this line...

 

[Geogio]

A 2x4 works, so does a thick book.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

IME, when the cab is tilted back you get less low end, and vice versa. I cannot back this claim as this is only my personal experience. I'm not saying that this is a good, or a bad thing.