Head and Cab or Combo Amp??

Zzzen Dog

Zzzen Dog

Blues Junior
So what's your preference?

I've always had a preference from my early twenties, playing with friends, to go for the amp combo. One thing to lug, as opposed to two, albeit one that was usually heavier.

So I've been keeping my eye out for a combo Nace Pro-18 to come up, but in the meantime a head, without a cabinet popped up at a really good price. Thing is how long am I going to wait for a solo cabinet to pop up, and should I ever actually get my chops in shape to go to a blues jam, or find a few local friends to play with, am I going to want to hump a head and cab, with all the set up?

So head and cab, or combo amp, what's your preference?
 
mountain man

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
I've got both. I like them both. What's nice about having the head is you can choose whatever cab you want. I've got a Nace cab but I perfer the Carvin Vintage cab. These Nace Pro-18's are collectors now. If you can get the head? get it! :Beer:
 
JPsuff

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
Combo.

Heads and cabs may be more impressive but are really not worth the trouble unless you are playing at large venues.
And even in that case, with the quality of modern P.A. systems, a 5 to 15 watt combo and a decent microphone will more than get the job done.

But with a Blues band in a typical small venue setting, even if the P.A. is marginal a good 15 to 20 watt combo should get the job done.

Whenever I leave home to play somewhere, I grab my Blackstar Artist 15 combo, my pedalboard with its shoulder strap soft case and my guitar. Everything carries in one trip.

Simple. :cool:
 
snarf

snarf

making guitars wish they were still trees
I've got all heads and cabs at the moment because I think they're cooler than combos. That's totally my opinion and may be the exact opposite of what others think. That's not to say that I haven't had my share of combos.

I bought my first head and cab thinking that I'd like the versatility of being able to plug it into a plethora of cabs for different sounds. The reality is that I bought a matching cab to go with it, and I've never gotten around to getting a different type of cab. So it's been pretty much the same type the entire time. Although, even though they are the same type (brand), I do have 12" and 10" cabs of that brand, and they do sound slightly different. So I guess there's that. But it's not like I have a big variety of speakers to plug into like I had originally envisioned.

As far as portability, I found it's six one way and half a dozen the other. Not all heads are 80lbs and 100w these days. I've got heads that range from 1w to 100w. The one that I've carried out a few times is a 15w with a 12" speaker cab. Even though it's 2 pieces, it's not really any different than carrying a combo. Pro: Have to carry two 15lb items instead of one 30lb amp. Con: Takes both hands. I generally use a gig bag instead of a case when I'm playing locally, so the guitar goes over my shoulder. That makes the two-handed thing no big deal...I still have to put something down to open a door.

A couple of weeks ago when I stopped through the local GC, I tried out one of those Fender Tone Master DR amps. To my ear, it sounded really nice. Then I reached over and picked it up because I had read about how light they were. I think I've got speaker cabs as heavy as that amp. I gave it the usual umph that you give an amp to pick it up and thought I was going to toss it across the room. I don't think it weighed but about 20 lbs. If I were looking for a combo right now, those are the amps I'd be looking at just because of the weight factor.

As for the Nace, they're not getting any easier to find, so, if the price is right, if it were me, I'd probably jump at the head and just pair it with another cab until I could get the matching one.
 
MarkDyson

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
I would have voted combo for the convenience of just one box to grab, but then I got this killer deal on a Quilter head (thanks, @cowboy) and added the matching cab later. I don't schlep it around, really, but in general it's just fine split up like that, and I can use the cab for my amp-in-a-pedal boxes or with my mini Quilter. The flexibility is kind of cool.
 
mountain man

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
arock said:
For band practice I use a Nace Pro 18 combo with a Cannabis Rex speaker. For gigs I use a Pro 18 head with two 1x12 cabs, one with a Cannabis Rex and the other with a Texas Heat. So.....both. Why? Because I like it.
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What are the wattage ratings of the cabs you are using? I've got my Nace head on a stack of Carvin vintage 1x12's that are rated to handle 100 watts which much higher power than the Pro-18 can put out. I might get more out of the Pro-18 if I had lower wattage and more efficient cabs? It's fine and has great tone for the volumes I play at the house but should I take it out to play I may not get enough sound. :Beer:
 
MikeR

MikeR

Guitar Challenged
Staff member
blackcoffeeblues said:
My vote---Head and cab. It is so much lighter. I feel it is better on me to make 2 light loads as one heavy load.
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This. :thumbup:

That being said, my Quilter MicroPro Combo 8 is under 20 lbs. and has more power than I'll ever need, so I'm still working with both. Have a new combination of modeler/amp pedalboard that I'll be posting about shortly.
 
Rancid Rumpboogie

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
MikeR said:
This. :thumbup:

That being said, my Quilter MicroPro Combo 8 is under 20 lbs. and has more power than I'll ever need, so I'm still working with both. Have a new combination of modeler/amp pedalboard that I'll be posting about shortly.
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I 2nd this. My Quilter HD MicroPro 12" combo only weighs 21 lbs. The HD speaker is lighter than the standard speaker. It is all the amp I will EVER need, and I just can't imagine a Nace could sound any better, and I KNOW no Nace is anywhere near as versatile. I put together a very compact pedal board that is in a hard shell case no bigger than one of my sneakers. I can walk into a jam with amp in one hand, guitar in the other and pedal board slung over a shoulder ... not heavy at all.

Here's a pic of my little pedal board sitting neatly inside one of my Tele cases. The little wah pedal fits right inside the case over two of the front-row pedals.

COMPPACT BOARD CASE.jpg

COMPACT BOARD 2.jpg
 
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JohnHurley

JohnHurley

Rock and Roll
I have several of both that are nice. Combos and head/cabinet ... want a 2x12 cab I think but the Mesa 1x12 works so nice.

There are some really nice PRS Archon 50 watt and 25 watt combos around slightly used at down to 700 range sometimes ... that's like a 1500 dollar original pricing.
 
sloslunas

sloslunas

NM Blues
The answer to this is simple. Get both! I have both, but really prefer the head/cab set up. YMMV

Steve

PS. If you can get your hands on a Nace amp jump all over it. These are now very hard to find...
 
Iheartbacon

Iheartbacon

Blues Junior
These days it’s option 3. Small modeler and a powered FRFR. Currently and Amplifire 6 and a CLR. If I upgrade, it would be to add another CLR to be able to run stereo but there’s not much itch there.

I originally got the AA6 for headphone use and quiet practice, but once I learned to dial it in and found good IR’s, I find my combos, heads, and cabs are all collecting dust.
 
CaptainMoto

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
My very first amp was a Fender head/cab in the early sixties, I think it was a bandmaster.
Ever since then I've gone with combos for convenience.
Now most of my plying is in the studio so, I'm beginning to have some interest in heads only that I can swap into a do-all cab.
I've got a NACE Pro 18 combo that I rarely use.
Someday I might decide to sell it..............not ready to do that just yet.
 
arock

arock

Help! I'm a rock
mountain man said:
What are the wattage ratings of the cabs you are using? I've got my Nace head on a stack of Carvin vintage 1x12's that are rated to handle 100 watts which much higher power than the Pro-18 can put out. I might get more out of the Pro-18 if I had lower wattage and more efficient cabs? It's fine and has great tone for the volumes I play at the house but should I take it out to play I may not get enough sound. :Beer:
Click to expand...
The Cannabis Rex is 50 watts @ 8 ohms. The Texas Heat is 150 watts @ 8 ohms. Haven't had any issue with not being loud enough. Most of the places we play (once things fire up again) are fairly small bars, and the larger places have their own sound systems so everything is miked. I just really dig the sound from that combination of speakers. ymmv.
 
MikeS

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Zzzen Dog said:
So what's your preference?

I've always had a preference from my early twenties, playing with friends, to go for the amp combo. One thing to lug, as opposed to two, albeit one that was usually heavier.

So I've been keeping my eye out for a combo Nace Pro-18 to come up, but in the meantime a head, without a cabinet popped up at a really good price. Thing is how long am I going to wait for a solo cabinet to pop up, and should I ever actually get my chops in shape to go to a blues jam, or find a few local friends to play with, am I going to want to hump a head and cab, with all the set up?

So head and cab, or combo amp, what's your preference?
Click to expand...
I have a combo but IF I could find a Pro18 head for a reasonable price, I'd grab it ($950 on Reverb.com is NOT reasonable).
 
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