am I the only one who doesnt like combos?

I agree 100%. I HATE combos too!

 

Not me! I LOVE combos! Love the open, 3d, spacious sound of open back cabs too. Not sure what combos you had, but maybe they were just not well designed ones. My old Music mann 1\12 had pretty much the same womp and bottom end as my vintage 4\12 closed back Marshall. Pittbulls are another small combo with plenty of punch.

 

I'm a wierdo. I like heads and OPEN-back cabs of at least 212 config. Getting a big 'whump' from a cab isn't what I'm looking for, hence the open-back cabs.

Not a fan of smaller combos either.

dave

 

I've settled into heads and open back cabs as well.
FWIW,
Rick

 

My Black Cat 2x12 shakes my house with thump.

 

I like heads with seperate cabs better.......but then theres the real world. I am not a professional musician. I have some great heads.....and 2 2x12 cabs....but when I am going to jam with some people grabbing a 1x12 or 2x12 combo is just plain easier.....no it doesnt have the whomp of the seperates.....but a guitar in the left hand and amp in the right and I am off!!!

 

I love both... Depends on the amp and the combo.. There's no relevance in generalizing on this stuff!

ERIC

 

Yeah good luck with the Bad Cat 2x12 in one hand an a guitar in the other. 95lbs has me looking at a head to use with my Avatar 1x12 instead.

 

Mostly heads and open back cabs for me. You can mix and match all kinds to speakers to the heads, and I do plenty of that.

 

I like both. Any open back cab has to be near the back wall for reflection or it sounds wrong.

As far as combos go, they certainly have their value. The Deluxe Reverb, Twin, Vibrolux, AC30, Bluesbreaker, etc. all have legendary status for their consistent great sound and performance onstage and in the studio.

 

A friend of mine uses a device called an "Enhancer" made by a company called Smith Sound Products with his Z-28 combos... Here's a link to the FAQ section of their website: CLICK HERE

I hadn't been a fan of combos or open back cabs because of how hard it is to place them properly in a room to get the right bass-repsonse... It was always hard to really find the sweet spot where the bass wasn't out of control, or where there wasn't enough of it. These Enhancers, while seemingly unconventional in the world of guitar amps (and this world tends to be one that's VERY locked into old conventions), provide phenominal results with combo amps and open back cabs alike.

They allow the amp to produce the *right* bass repsonse consistently in any room, and really increase the apparent volume output of an amp at the same time. Not to mention they tilt the amp back a bit so it's projecting towards your ears better, but don't suffer the bass loss typical of using an amp stand or putting the amp up on a chair.

I'm really impressed with this device. It provides for the great bass response of a closed-back or ported cab, but the fantastic openness, room-filling sound dispersion, and portability associated with combo amps. Really and awesome tone-tool that I'll be adding to my rig in the near future.

 

For tiny amps (champ size), sure combos are fine. For biger amps, I'd much rather have the seperate pieces. Easier to carry and easier to fit in the car.

 

tube head and a closed back cab for me.

 

Same here!

 

+1. Anything bigger than a 112 is easier to carry in a separate head and cab, as far as I'm concerned.

 

I like em all. I used a Mesa MKIII combo with an additional 1x12 extension cab for 13 years, these days I'm doing good to keep an amp 3 years.

I haven't had a combo for 5 years until I picked up a 40w 1x12 Tone King Meteor recently...great sound, great on the back, but I'm not ready to dump my heads and 2x12 cabs yet.

Clark

 

Let's just say I prefer combos ...

 

I love combos and by the way, I've tried a lot more than two heads & cabs that I didn't like.

 

I know my back doesn't like Vox AC30, but man does it sound gooood...