Head vs. Not Head

joeytroupe · Newbie Alert Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Posts: 3

What is the advantage to having a head unit/cab ... stack... vs. just a combo amp? Other than volume / power, is there anything? Obviously I'm new, not to playing, but to technology. I've always used friends' equipment so I don't know anything.

Do I need a half stack if I'm not playing large venues?

ActionFRANK · Not So Newbie Joined: 11 Jul 2006 Posts: 7

u want a head like me if ure going to play shows, or gigs. U want the combo for house/travel play. OR you could buy a combo with an audio jack in the back, and then buy a cab, and just hook it up.

i suggest the Marshall AVT 50 series.

mccabre · Tadpole Joined: 05 Jun 2006 Posts: 18

Doesn't matter, really. If you're playing gigs where they can't mike your amp up then, yes, you may want a half stack. On the other hand, I've played some really loud combos...

What kind of band are you in and what's your budget??

Goes_To_Eleven · Hamster Joined: 07 Oct 2005 Posts: 87 Location: CT, USA

I never liked the way combos sound, compared to a head with 4x12 cabs. I feel you get a much bigger and more open sound with cabs & heads. Combos always sound muffled and nasally to me, even when miked.

You get bigger bottom end with a 4x12 cab as opposed to a combo or even a 2x12 cab, which makes a huge difference in tone. I've found that combos and smaller cabs have a "thin" quality to them, missing the low-end punch that 4x12s have. Then again, I play heavier music so combos would never cut it for the tone I get. At the end of the day, I'd never get the same tone from a combo that I get from my Super Lead running into three cabs, but it's really comparing apples and oranges. It's better to judge by the styles you play and what your needs are.

PlatinumTree · Tadpole Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 21

Combos of the marshall brand are pretty solid.

MG series are awsome for quick plug and play.
My peavey 112 was excellent for live play, everyone thought it sounded good.
And My marshall stack sounds just as good even though its MG series.

Solid State stacks are more sturdy, and won't need replacement of tubes.
Tube's have a crunchy sound which is great for blues.

Most Combos of Peavey,Marshall, and MESA are almost no different from their stacks.

Goes_To_Eleven · Hamster Joined: 07 Oct 2005 Posts: 87 Location: CT, USA

PlatinumTree · Tadpole Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 21

If you get a properly toned combo, it should sound better than any cabinet. Reason for this, MOST combos have more bass than heads and more combined quality source.

Goes_To_Eleven · Hamster Joined: 07 Oct 2005 Posts: 87 Location: CT, USA

That's just plain wrong. You can't get the frequency response out of a small combo when comparing it to a 4x12 cabinet. It's the same reason why small home stereo speakers don't have the bass response that larger ones do. Find me a combo that can match the bottom end of a head & 4x12 cab. Combos absolutely do not have more bass response than a head & cab. There's a reason that a combo, when played next to a stack, sounds nasal and hollow.

PlatinumTree · Tadpole Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 21

Well thats your opinion. But I happen to make my own amplifiers without the shells. And I can build one with 100 000W peaks of bass and treble very simply.

Just costly.

Goes_To_Eleven · Hamster Joined: 07 Oct 2005 Posts: 87 Location: CT, USA

It's not my opinion. I've owned amps going on 25 years and you don't get the same frequency response from small cabinets containing one or two speakers, and with most of those cabinets being open-backed, which causes you to lose low end and makes the low end that's there much looser and flabbier. Think what you want, but you shouldn't be telling prospective amp buyers that combos are no different from a stack. They're two different animals with many different factors contributing to the final tone.

Herb · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:30 am Post subject:

I've stayed out of this for a while, but I have to speak my piece here. Goes to Eleven, you are entitled to your opinion, but it is your opinion. I will grant that the response of closed cabinets over open combo amps is different, but I won't agree that it's superior. The sound is different in each and every listener's ears. One other fact, there must be some reason that professional (and even amateur) musicians prefer using combo amps and buy them over closed cabinet amps at a ratio of over twenty to one. One other note, I notice that most guitarists that use closed cabinets use stacks and play guitar music that is heavily distorted, where quality tone and richness isn't even a factor. I will say that for bass, there is no option other than a closed cabinet, without a doubt the very low end frequency response is clearer.
_________________
Yer guitar pickin' friend,
Herb
"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!"
Doghouse Jazz

AXSIS · Newbie Alert Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Posts: 1

THE OPEN BACK CABS WILL APPEAR TO HAVE LESS BASS. A CLOSED BACK CAB WILL TEND TO HAVE MORE BASS... OF COURSE TYPE OF SPEAKER WILL ALSO AFFECT THE SOUND AND THE DEPTH OF CLOSED BACK CABINETS WILL ALSO AFFECT BASS.... PORTED CABINETS ARE ALSO BECOMING MORE COMMIN IN GUITAR CIRCLES...

THERE ARE OF COURSE OTHER REASONS YOU MAY WANT TO CHOOSE COMBO OR HEAD...

A COMBO TENDS TO HAVE ALL VALVES VERY CLOSE TO SPEAKERS AS WELL AS ALL THE ELECTRONICS, THIS MEANS THE COMPONENTS ARE ALSO PRONE TO HEAT AND MECHANICAL VIBRATION, WHICH ARE BOTH PROBLEMATIC FOR VALVES AND ELECTRONICS IN GENERAL... BUT A 1 X 12" COMBO IS VERY PORTABLE AND CAN BE MIKED UP THROUGH PA IN ORDER TO BOOST VOLUME LEVELS...

OTHER ADVANTAGES OF HEAD AND CAB S THAT FOR EXAMPLE YOU COULD USE TWO 1 X 12" OR TWO 2 X 12" CABS AND PUT ONE CAB ON EACH SIDE OF A STAGE THUS GIVING YOUR SOUND A BETTER SPREAD AND ENABLING OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BAND AND YOURSELF BETTER BACKLINE MONITORING

YOU COULD USE A 4 X 12 CAB IF YOU HAVE PEOPLE TO HELP YOU CARRY IT AND A VEHICLE BIG ENOUGH TO TRANSPORT IT IN...

ANOTHER POINT IS MOST HEADS FROM BIG MANUFACTURUERS TEND TO BE 50 OR 100W... OR MORE... IF VALVE AMP, DIFFICULT TO TURN UP FULL WITHOUT CAUSING EAR DAMAGE AND SO YOU WILL NOT PERHAPS GET THE SWEET SPOT FROM YOUR AMP AT REASONABLE VOLUMES

COMBOS TEND TO BE LOWER WATTAGES AND SO YOU COULD RUN YOUR AMP NEARER TO FLAT OUT AND GET THAT SWEET SPOT OF POWER AMP DISTORTION AND COMPRESSION.. OF COURSE THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO MOST RULES

WITH REGARD TO THE 4 X 12 FOR METAL, YES, THRASH METAL AND ROCK HAVE TENDED TO USE THEM, BUT YOU CAN ALSO GET A MEAN THRASH SOUND OUT OF A SMALL 5W SINGLE ENDED AMP IF CONFIGURED RIGHT... ANOTHER THING WITH THE 4 X 12 IS THAT THERE ARE SPEAKERS ARE HIGHER SO ARE CLOSER TO YOUR EARS AND YOUR CHEST AND SO THE SOUND DOES HIT YOU MORE THAN WITH A SINGLE 12" SPEAKER THAT IS ON THE FLOOR...

ALSO OF COURSE TENDS TO BE MORE EXPENSIVE TO BUY A HEAD AND 4 X 12 AND MUCH MORE WEAR AND TEAR ON YOUR BOD