Anyone downsized from a stack to either a combo or a mini head ?

riffpowers

as much as I like a 100 watt stack , I’m thinking of downsizing again .

any gigging people already done it ?! I know my 100 watt stack is overpowered , but I do t want to be underpowered either .
Is downsizing to a combo the way to go ?
or maybe a mini head and a 2x12 ?

Jalapeno

2x10s sound great with a mini head,  I usually use a pair of 1x12s

Mesa Mini Rec in my case - mentally loud even on 10w setting

Fender Pro Junior, also a 10w amp & 10" speaker, great tone and also mentally loud - knocks the Blues Junior out of the park.

Tat2dstesh

Went from a rivera knucklehead treatment to a stoneham custom 50(keeping) to gigging a orange dual terror at 30 and sounds great to me 

markr76

I went from a Marshall 100w stack to a badcat hotcat 30r head with matching 2x12 cab. To be honest I love the smaller setup. The badcat is very loud though, with bags of low end. The cab is open back, which helps make it sound so big. Although that's probably not suitable if you're a metal player.
My back is definatly happier with me! 
 

samzadgan

whats the purpose of downsizing?

are you looking for portability?
or are you trying to get natural breakup at lower volume? (less headroom)

I personally prefer a head and cab vs Combo, because for anything outside of home playing i much prefer at least 2x12, and in combo format its too heavy to carry around. So if you go combo, only 1x12 combo's give you any upside when if comes to portability in my opinion.

luckily so far most gigs and rehearsals have 4x12's as part of the back line, and i just take a head...but if i had to drag my 4x12 on a regular basis, i would consider going with a 2x12 cab for sure, and as far as heads go, i luckily scored an old Acoustic 150, so that saves me lugging around my matamp head...otherwise, one of the quilter heads are great. They sound great...take pedals well, and light as anything.

p90fool

I have, I'm running a pair of 1x12 combos as one just doesn't have the spread I like. I dropped to a 2x12 for a couple of years and either I couldn't hear it or nobody else could. 

I have a space problem, my wife is the drummer and I also own most of the PA so my days of being a lone guitarist with a 4x12 in the back of the car are long gone. 

I've use various different cabs since my 4x12 days and for me a pair of 20w 1x12 combos has been the best solution in terms of spread, 3D-ness (if that's a word) and built-in backup. 

TTBZ

I've gone down from a 50w laney and 2x12 to a 20w Mini Jubilee combo 1x12. I do wish I got the 2525H to use with my cab though as it sounds much better/bigger to me, plus a small head and cab is easier to move around with the weight spread across 2 items. Still thinking about selling up my combo and getting a head version!

For me the main reason was that I never got to open up the master on my amp to the point where it sounded best. Even at bigger gigs I had to keep it pretty quiet and was mic'd anyway. I just don't think loud stage volume for guitarists is a thing any more, depending on your venue/PA of course.  For me 20w EL34 and a 2x12 is the sweet spot of volume and tone. Loud enough to get above drums (even in my loud stoner rock band!) but quiet enough to get the power valves working at their best. There's a little compromise in low end response compared to a bigger amp but you soon get used to that and if you don't need true clean tones I think it's a way better option.

Lugging a big amp just doesn't appeal to me any more, can't be arsed!

riffpowers

Thanks for the replies ! Looks like I’m not alone !

for info , I’m wanting downsize for both portability and being able to get more breakup than a 100 watt amp gives at the volumes most of us play at .

timmysoft

Toured for years with a stack, then I got sick of shit loan cabs and inconsiderate support bands, so went the combo route.

my tone now is the best I’ve ever had

riffpowers

timmysoft said:

Toured for years with a stack, then I got sick of shit loan cabs and inconsiderate support bands, so went the combo route.

my tone now is the best I’ve ever had

That's where I'm at with it .

Lestratcaster

My usual set up is a 120 watt 6505+ head into an Orange 4x12 cab. Sounds great and its only possible as the band I am playing in have a van and several of us to lug the stuff around.

However if I'm on my own doing gigs in a covers band or playing as a session guy for an artist perhaps, I'd want something I can load in and out quick esp as alot of venues cleverly like to be built with shit loads of stairs and tight corners.

I could go down the 2x12 route but that'd still mean lugging the amp head which is really really heavy for an amp!

So I think something like a 40 watt combo would be easiest. Can fit in the back of a car easy as well. And as Timmy said, usually at backline share shows we usually get a shitty Marshall 4x12 with stock G12T-75 speakers which sound awful with my amp. Worse still we've had other cheap shit to play through.

ESBlonde

Gone smaller and also discovered the benefit of wheels many yeras ago.
Typical gig rig is either an HRD or a marshall 50w head and 2x12 cab. But I always take a folding sack barrow like this.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/VonHaus-90kg-Folding-Hand-Sack-Truck-Lightweight-Aluminium-Alloy-Heavy-Duty-Cart/25008851795?iid=302518087794

They are sometimes available from Aldi for £15 or other places as much a £55 for the same thing.
Heres a used one in Oxfordshire for £5
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Workzone-aluminium-hand-sack-truck-Collection-form-Oxford-area-/401488010457

Jalapeno

ESBlonde said:

Gone smaller and also discovered the benefit of wheels many yeras ago.
Typical gig rig is either an HRD or a marshall 50w head and 2x12 cab. But I always take a folding sack barrow like this.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/VonHaus-90kg-Folding-Hand-Sack-Truck-Lightweight-Aluminium-Alloy-Heavy-Duty-Cart/25008851795?iid=302518087794

They are sometimes available from Aldi for £15 or other places as much a £55 for the same thing.
Heres a used one in Oxfordshire for £5
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Workzone-aluminium-hand-sack-truck-Collection-form-Oxford-area-/401488010457

WIS'd

Gassage

Well, Eric Clapton has.

Moe_Zambeek

I’ve gone from JCM800 and 4x12 to Orange head and 4x12 to loads of Matamps and 2x12s then combos from Matchless and now a 1x12 Audio Kitchen combo. I also have a head box for the amp if it’s going to be a cab share only affair, which I don’t really like tbh.

I prefer open back sounds these days, I’m not playing anything hugely heavy though.

Monkeybone

I went from a Marshall Mode Four half stack to a Hughes and Kettner GrandMeister 36 with a 2x12, much lighter, much better sound.

riffpowers

I was impressed with what I've heard from the h&k's.

Twinfan

I've gone from a Bogner Ecstasy and matching 2x12 to a Mini Jube with matching 2x12 for pub gigs.

I agree with everything that TTBZ said earlier - actually having a smaller amp working a little bit gives a way better tone to my ears, plus they're much easier to lug around!

Phil_aka_Pip

samzadgan said:

whats the purpose of downsizing?

are you looking for portability?
or are you trying to get natural breakup at lower volume? (less headroom)

I personally prefer a head and cab vs Combo, because for anything outside of home playing i much prefer at least 2x12, and in combo format its too heavy to carry around. So if you go combo, only 1x12 combo's give you any upside when if comes to portability in my opinion.

luckily so far most gigs and rehearsals have 4x12's as part of the back line, and i just take a head...but if i had to drag my 4x12 on a regular basis, i would consider going with a 2x12 cab for sure, and as far as heads go, i luckily scored an old Acoustic 150, so that saves me lugging around my matamp head...otherwise, one of the quilter heads are great. They sound great...take pedals well, and light as anything.

In my case it were both. Stopped using heads and 4x12s, went with Bluesbreaker combo. Since then, got an AC30. Each combo lives in a castored flight case which has most of the usual advantages except for the lifting in and out of the wagon. The practice rooms we used to use had a 4x12 and a Peavey head which I ran clean and used pedalboard MkIV for all FX incl dirt.

riffpowers

I really need to try the mini jubilee.

timmysoft

riffpowers said:

I really need to try the mini jubilee.

It’s a great amp, I’d still have one if I wasn’t on the Budda hype