combos. Never again.

Re: combos. Never again.

I've got 4 combos right now and have had a few others. Some VERY cheap ones, but I don't recall any of the jingle bell effect in any of them. However......I've heard alot about the rattle that combos are prone to and about the potential shorter tube life in combos due to the vibration and I tend to agree that it is real and not just in PV's head. Definitely could have a lot to do with playing style/technique.

My personal preference is head/cab for a variety of reasons...
1) I want to avoid the potential of ringing (if it really exists),
2) I don't want to risk premature tube failure due to vibration from the speaker in the cabinet,
3) Like was said, I too have never liked the sound of the speakers that came in combos,
4) I think it is easier and more convenient to pack and haul a small head and separate cab than a larger and heavier combo.
5) I like the flexability of being able to simply plug into different spkr cabs at will.

But there is no wrong or right, just personal preference. (Some people actually don't even mind having an 8x10 Ampeg box).
 
Re: combos. Never again.

good for you guys!

I have a head doing it a little, thanks to the tube recto. But I'll just squeeze the clips together a little. Not too bad. Not as bad as if, say, the speaker was in the same box to convey structureborne mechanical agitation to those fragile little glass-housed transducers and rectifier, like in a combo.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

The problem is more with the quality of tubes than the amps. Tubes in a combo amp have a rougher life for sure and since tubes are made like crap these days they go pretty easy. Just a fact of life, got a tube combo keep extra tubes around.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

that ain't it. Was using NOS.

lotta denial in here. Tube combos rattle. More than heads do. That's it. Simple as that.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

I had a Peavey VK112 and cranked the **** out of it, repeatedly, and never noticed any tube rattle. My old C30, however, was awful. I just use heads and cabs because I don't really like that open-back 'fart' that most combos have.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

what kind of tube rectos in that Valveking eh?

and don't you have a Flying V to make sweet love to?
 
Re: combos. Never again.

I prefer a head n cab to a combo, because of the possibility for rattles in combos, and because a sometimes it's easier to move a head n cab.
It's not always the tubes that rattle. The rattles in combos can be illusive and frustrating.
I've had several combo amps. Some rattled, some didn't. Allen Classic 10, PV 50, Vox AC15C1, Blackheart Little Giant and Budda SD18 did not. Well, that Blackheart did until I changed out the power tube. Peavey Classic 30, Marshall Class 5 and Bogner Shiva did. I could never find the Shiva rattle. Drove me nuts, and now it is gone and I have a head.

All that being said, if I found a combo that rocked my world, I'd take it.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

I have had way more issues in my years of playing with heads way more than combos, than again I've only had two combos, a vht pitt and a 6505.......
 
Re: combos. Never again.

PVFan said:
that ain't it. Was using NOS.

lotta denial in here. Tube combos rattle. More than heads do. That's it. Simple as that.
Click to expand...

Yeah and therefore the tubes have a shorter life, no ****.

You are a strange cat my friend:smack:

Just curious do your combos have casters on them? They don't have to be NOS casters, they could be any old kind.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

JOLLY said:
You're just not playing loud enough. Crank it up and you won't hear any rattling.
Click to expand...


Jolly's right. I play through combos and once you turn up with drums, bass & vocals you won't hear any tube rattle.
Smaller gigs I'll bring in only a combo and it will KICK ASS.

I've eaten many full stacks with one of my combos.

MS1.jpg
 
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Re: combos. Never again.

Wattage said:
Yeah and therefore the tubes have a shorter life, no ****.

You are a strange cat my friend:smack:

Just curious do your combos have casters on them? They don't have to be NOS casters, they could be any old kind.
Click to expand...

I don't understand what you mean?

I'm a big fan of Chinese tubes, btw. My Pittbull is full of them, my 5150 was nothing but, even Reinhold Bogner told me to use Chinese in my Ecstasy, which was the 3rd one he sold. I bought that one back in 1993. He told me that in 1999.
 
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Re: combos. Never again.

Hoboman said:
Jolly's right. I play through combos and once you turn up with drums, bass & vocals you won't hear any tube rattle.
Smaller gigs I'll bring in only a combo and it will KICK ASS.

I've eaten many full stacks with one of my combos.

MS1.jpg
Click to expand...

he's not.

I don't think anyone knows what I mean. I'm talking about Santa Claus Coming to Town fudging sleigh bells. JINGALINGALING.

That's okay, a lot of veterans don't know what I mean until I show them.

Then they go, "Wow that amp must be broken!"

But then they realize the amp is fine.

And then they understand what I am talking about.

None of you do.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

PVFan said:
he's not.

I don't think anyone knows what I mean. I'm talking about Santa Claus Coming to Town fudging sleigh bells. JINGALINGALING.

That's okay, a lot of veterans don't know what I mean until I show them.

Then they go, "Wow that amp must be broken!"

But then they realize the amp is fine.

And then they understand what I am talking about.

None of you do.
Click to expand...

Maybe you could point it out to the rest of us on some famous recordings done with combos.
"Stairway to Heaven" lead solo
Just about anything by Queen
Most of early U2.

I'll go back & try to hear it if you can tell us where to listen.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

ha ha, seriously, I'm not insane. Insult away, I haven't been hallucinating. Enough people have agreed with me and told me they felt the same way. And everybody else just gets mad. I have a tube recto in a *head* giving me some small sleigh bells right now, not too bad. I can live with it as it is okay, because this amp is lighting my fire; another thread.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

PVFan said:
ha ha, seriously, I'm not insane. Insult away, I haven't been hallucinating. Enough people have agreed with me and told me they felt the same way. And everybody else just gets mad. I have a tube recto in a *head* giving me some small sleigh bells right now, not too bad. I can live with it as it is okay, because this amp is lighting my fire; another thread.
Click to expand...

OK
 
Re: combos. Never again.

I crank the **** out of my AC15HW and there's no tube rattling going on. I can't say the same for my Crate V32 Palomino I had at one time; that thing always had some extra noise and the design of it was borderline retarded.

My point? Some do it and some don't. Nevertheless, I'm more of a cab and head guy myself.
 
Re: combos. Never again.

To PVFan,
I have 40 watt fender hot rod deluxe for practice. The drummer is loud.
When I get to it the stage, I unplug the ratty speaker it comes with and add two single speaker cabs I made dirt cheap. I put a GB12 in one and a Vin.30 in the other. My amp comes with two speaker outputs, so with the 2 celestion home made cabs it runs on a total of 4 ohms. My celestions are 8 ohms each. They f'ing sound like a half stack Marshal, which it pretty much is. I put one on my side and hide one over by the bass player. nice even directional sound. It is to me a thing of beauty. I dislike open back cabs for many reasons. I am planning to put a 4 inch hole in the bottom of each cab so the speaker can jump a little. But in the bottom of the cab the sound will spread all over in a nice even diffuse manner, really good for ambient sound.
Steve Buff.
 
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