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Why Combos?
- Thread starter bassboysam
- Start date
Why combos? Because for MANY people (some just won't admit it) a combo is all you REALLY need in most cases. It's easy to move, new models are very light and sound quite good, and unless you are playing huge venues with no PA or have a small penis, you just don't need a huge rig. Flame all you want but truth be told, most people on this forum play with WAY more gear than they need.
My 600W 1x15 combo weighs a touch over 50lb. My 500W head probably weighs 30lb or so, and my 410 cab is in excess of 80lb.
So it is is lighter.
I have the ability to use an extension cab if I need one.
It's actually easier to move. I can get on/off stage in a minute or three.
I use my onstage amp for monitor purposes. The I could add a 1x18 under it if I didn't have PA support and be just fine probably.
I still have my big rig. I can use that if I need to as well, but from a convenience stand point, a light, high powered combo is a great choice for me personally.
As usual, YMMV, IMO, IME etc.....
My Markbass 2x10 combo is 44lbs and can shake the foundation in my house...I can add a cab to it to make it 500 watts...Dunno seems like a good idea to me.
I like my Ampeg B2 because it's handy and serviceable for smaller gigs. It's a bit of a tank for a single 15 combo amp, but it's got good casters and handles, and is easy enough to move. I do have an SVT15E as an extension cab if needed. With it's xlr out, which I've used to feed a p.a. system a few times, it does it's job quite well. I'm not against using a separate head and cab rig at all, and have done that sort of rig for years. Simply enough, a nice combo amp ain't so bad to have in one's amp arsenal.
My favorite combo (Carvin BR515N) is basically the BX500 head built into a 115 cab that kicks back. The kick back feature is great. Not as easy to do with a separate head/cab setup.
If it weren't for medium sized gigs, I would never use anything but my combo! Lets face it an SVT and an 8x10 sounds killer but its too much for bars/small clubs, way too much! I actually hate when I see a bass player drag one of those things into a small bar. Plus how many times have we all played on a tiny stage with no room to stand? HOw nice would it be to have less gear?
For big clubs or large outdoor festivals, you always have PA re-inforcement. Heck, the audience isn't even hearing your amp, so a combo works well here too.
But it's those midlle of the road venues with larger rooms and a not-so-great sound system where you just need a bit more! But the power of combos is getting bigger and better all the time, as more and more people like hauling around less gear! Let's face it, we all love gigs but hate the load in-load out.
Combos will always have a place and as they become more powerful, more flexible, and they keep on coming up with newer and cooler combo amps, I think they will play an even bigger role!
For big clubs or large outdoor festivals, you always have PA re-inforcement. Heck, the audience isn't even hearing your amp, so a combo works well here too.
But it's those midlle of the road venues with larger rooms and a not-so-great sound system where you just need a bit more! But the power of combos is getting bigger and better all the time, as more and more people like hauling around less gear! Let's face it, we all love gigs but hate the load in-load out.
Combos will always have a place and as they become more powerful, more flexible, and they keep on coming up with newer and cooler combo amps, I think they will play an even bigger role!
I have owned a slew of gear, and my Ampeg BA112 is one of the better sounding combos I have had in my posession(and one of the least expensive). For rehearsals, small gigs, bedroom practice, etc, its just great. Its just convenient to pick up the small combo rather than bring out a head and cabinet.
that second part is completely debateable. I've heard some atrocious sounding poorly designed combos...but have also played for years through many incredible performing high powered combos as well. My priorities lie with scaling appropriately to the gig without compromizing tone. Therein lies the advantage of a good combo. And I do not equate a good combo with cheapenning out spend-wise. You get what you pay for. In a pinch for a series of really cramped-stage venue gigs (for when the Super Redhead I was used to was unavailable) I picked up a GK Backline 115 combo. Biggest mistake I ever made, even at the incredible discount I got it for. So poorly designed I wanted to punch either G or K in the mouth.
I also echo the sentiments about no longer needing a big SUV just to play a gig. a total bonus.
Some people really need some reading comprehension lessons. I am not asking why use a small rig vs. a monster stack. My question was why a 200 watt 210 combo instead of a 200 watt head and separate 210 cab.
Sorry, no enlightenment here. I believe that the type of combo that you describe, the 100+ watt 2x10"/1x15" and above (in power, number of speakers, and weight - aka "The Peavey Paradigm"
) are very much several generations behind current speaker & rig design with Neodymium speakers & lightweight cabinets, Ultra-lightweight 3-6lb heads that can produce anywhere from 400 to over 1,000 watts, and the methods most Amplification companies are using to design the current generation of "combo amps". Both separate 1x10", 1x12" and 2x10" & 12s teamed with 4lb, 500 watt and upward "Fit in the pocket of your gig or supply bag" ultra-lightweight heads as well as "slide-out" heads built to be unattached to their "combo amps" and used when larger, more numerous Speaker Cabinets are called for: no PA and/or monitor support, Rock & \m/etal bands where you have both numerous guitarists using 1/2 or full 8x12" Stacks and speaker "area" becomes a must simply to be heard, and other "Volume War" situations. A year or so I would have said "Money", that not everyone can afford the latest & greatest of these new lightweight amps and speaker cabinets. But having seen the Ibanez Promethean 1x10 Bass Combo Amp come out at last years NAMM show @ $699.99 for a 1x10" cabinet, removable head that can generate 250 watts alone and 500 watts when teamed with a 1x10" extension speaker at 28 lbs and to generally wide acclaim both here at TB, other forums & Gear Blogs on the web, and magazine reviews, I realized the days of the heavy, "first thing you do is install Casters and hope there are no stairs" multiple speaker combo amps are relegated to a Player's 1st Rig and only that (and even then, as prices lower is in danger of losing its place...) Hopefully I'll be trying out in the next week or so for a gig that'll range from a 5-piece full-on band to potentially 2-piece coffeehouse and Open Mic settings of an Acoustic Guitar and either my Taylor AB-2 ABG or Spector ReBop 5 DLX FM fretless 5-string, and I've realized that while I'd be set for the "Full Band" gigs with my "Midsized Rig" of 2x12" & 2x10" cabs, 300/300 Stereo or Dual Mono or 1,600 watts Bridged Mono (I typically run a Clean/Effected DM setup with this rig), I'll be playing catch-up in the "Acoustic Arena" using my 2x10" and 5-space rack and that I very well could have a use for the Ibanez Promethean, Gallien-Krueger MB or Genz Benz Shuttle-class combos.
+1 I love mine and besides, it's unique in the sense that with the turn of a couple of screws, the head slides out, best of both worlds.
Well, let me say this: I have the GK MB212 combo. That's 500 watts through 2x12's. I feel pretty confident in saying that it could easily go head to head with ALMOST (note that I said almost) any 4x10 + head rig. I play with three loud guitarists in a constant volume war as well as a pretty loud drummer, and it's enough that I can be heard over them with gain and master volume just shy of 12:00. If you need more than that, chances are good you're going to be mic'd or go DI through the PA. PLUS, it weighs 38lbs.
Because for some people, carrying one thing is easier than carrying two things.
I like modularity myself, although I have my rig setup to be either/or. I can latch my rig together and it's a combo (on wheels). I can carry it separate if that's easier. Personally I hate having to carry anything, much less make multiple trips in and out, especially in the cold Wisconsin winters. I want to get my gear in as quick as possible.
Use whatever works. Obviously combos are appealing or they wouldn't make them. They just won't be appealing to everyone.
I love combos, and that's all I've used since about 1978 when I got my first Peavey TNT100. I have nothing against them.
That being said, I now have a Crown XLS 1000 with a Carvin BRX 10.2 using an Aguilar Tonehammer as a pre, with plenty of options to add additional cabs or heads down the road. More flexibility than any combo I've ever owned.
Point is- for me it's not so much that it's better. It's just different
That being said, I now have a Crown XLS 1000 with a Carvin BRX 10.2 using an Aguilar Tonehammer as a pre, with plenty of options to add additional cabs or heads down the road. More flexibility than any combo I've ever owned.
Point is- for me it's not so much that it's better. It's just different
Because my GK MB210 was cheaper than an MB500 head and MBE210 cabinet, and its easier to carry than seperates and allows me more room on stage, and its quicker to setup.
Tonally, the head in the combo is identical to the MB500. As is the case with a few other combos.
Nicest combo I ever used was an Eden CXC-110(220 watts+1x10)- at 47 lbs it was a shade heavier than any cab I'd want to lug but being one piece it was easy schleppin. I got a CX-110 ext cab & even added an Avatar CB-12(the WT-330 power section did 2 ohms)& NEVER wanted more volume. So in answer to the OP, because it did the job, very nicely. I often use my heavy-yet-weak 70s Crate 1B(30 watt 1x12 combo)for the same reason.
