Barefaced combo?

[xgsjx]

Having had a combo (a Markbass 2x10), the arguments against are poppycock.

If the amp stops working, I could easily have sat an amp on top of the combo, unplugged the MB head & plugged in another head just as easily had it been a cab alone.

For light & loud. An easy one handed carry into the venue, bass over the shoulder & pedalboard in the other hand. Never had a problem not being heard & got many compliments on my sound.

If Alex were to make a combo, he'd either have to find an amp manufacturer that would be happy to assist or go in to the amp making business himself.

[Kev]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1480155160' post='3182022']
Having had a combo (a Markbass 2x10), the arguments against are poppycock.

[/quote]

No, the arguments against your particular combo are poppycock. Plenty of combos out there where it is awkward or impossible to use a different head.

IMO, combos are great as a budget solution if a full modular setup is beyond the reach of a player. However, I just cant really understand why, given the choice, anyone would go for a combo when a class d amp fits in your gig bag pocket.

[TimR]

Regardless of the pros and cons of combos, I think the big problem with the lightweight heads is keeping them on top of the amp while plugged into your bass. Wander too far away and your head follows you off the cab and onto the floor.

I think really all you need is to tie your cable round the handle of the cab before plugging into the amp.

Anything like a rack case or sheet of metal is going away from the idea of a lightweight setup.

[chris_b]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1480156137' post='3182035']
. . . . the big problem with the lightweight heads is keeping them on top of the amp while plugged into your bass. Wander too far away and your head follows you off the cab and onto the floor.
[/quote]
Both those things can happen but that's User Error not the fault of the amp or its design.

[TimR]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1480159322' post='3182067']

Both those things can happen but that's User Error not the fault of the amp or its design.
[/quote]

Exactly. So there are more elegant solutions to cutting a hole in your cab and compromising the integrity.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1480155688' post='3182029']
No, the arguments against your particular combo are poppycock. Plenty of combos out there where it is awkward or impossible to use a different head.

IMO, combos are great as a budget solution if a full modular setup is beyond the reach of a player. However, I just cant really understand why, given the choice, anyone would go for a combo when a class d amp fits in your gig bag pocket.
[/quote]
Then it would make sense if Alex ever makes a combo to have a jack on the cab part so it can be treated as modular and not make something comparable to the combos that you have had the misfortune of using.

The Markbass combo was hardly a budget solution (£1100 when I bought it). The same would probably go for a Barefaced combo.
Yes, you could pop a class D head in a gig bag pocket, but mine already had an iPad & things in there. So the combo made sense for getting in & out of pub gigs efficiently.

I've nothing against modular rigs btw. My next rig is to be modular & possibly a valve head too.

[phil.c60]

I've never pulled my LM3 off the top of my Compact. Perhaps I don't get jiggy with it sufficiently while I'm playing.I'm more Wymanesque I suppose. I find I can carry Compact, LM3 in it's padded case, bass in it's gig bag and a guitar stand in one go with no issues. That's great for rehearsals, and for gigs there's an additional box anyway with Sansamp, spare leads, extension leads,gaffa, shoes (those that have seen me will know, those that haven't, pics are available....) and my trusty Zoom recorder. LM3 goes in here too, as does the gutar stand so one cab, one box and one bass. Can't think a combo would make it any simpler, really as I'd still have to take all the other stuff plus bits of the PA too......

[taunton-hobbit]

With the advent of the B/F pa range -

" [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]If Alex were to make a combo, he'd either have to find an amp manufacturer that would be happy to assist or go in to the amp making business himself. "[/font][/color]


[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Alex already has an amp, now all it needs is a preamp (not difficult or heavy) -[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Watch this space ?[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color]

[TimR]

Alex seems to like clean. The power amp is advertised as transparent.

I'm sure he's staying out of preamp territory as that would colour the sound of the combo and limit the market to people who like the sound of that preamp.

Possibly.

[3below]

Combo with plate amp would be my way forward. As an end user I could the use Sansamp, Alembic, Behringer, Zoom, Pod etc etc in whatever flavour I fancied. Combos have a likeable simplicity, I carry my bass case in one hand, combo in the other. Remove bass and lead, plug in and play. I currently use a bass head (middleweight) with BF cab and realise that it is not much more effort really