50 watt combo or 15 watt head?

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:00 am

Wracking my brains over which of these to grab. I've wanted an Ampeg guitar amp for fuckeons and was seriously looking for one before I went and spunked a load of money on my 2x12 Zilla cab and White Little Rock amp. At the time the Ampegs were quite spendy; at least 300 for the 15 watter up to Â£600+ for the 2x12, which was the one I really wanted.

I like my current setup but I don't think I love it; the speaker cab is amazing but the White head leaves a little to be desired in the bass regions. It's closely modelled on a Mesa Boogie Mark I, apparently, and it sounds great. It can go from lovely vintage toenz most of the way to modern, spikey metal. But it just don't have that thump. Doubt I'd ever get rid of it.

So my original plan would be to grab the 15 watt Ampeg and run it alongside the White amp or even on its own into the current 2x12 cab. Small head, big cab, not mad mobile, but still good.

And yet... for a mere Â£40 more I could get the 1x12 50 watt version. Simultaneously more powerful and mobile than the head and cab setup. But then the cab becomes almost redundant if I'm not going to be using it on the reg. I suppose I could stick the extension outs from the 50 watt Ampeg into it for SUPER POWERFUL TONE (sarcasm.. sort of) but that's also kinda ridiculous. It would make more sense to sell it and buy an extension cab instead...

Or I could get the 2x12 Ampeg for another Â£40 ewolfhwfgiwrhjgsjnh

Which would also mean selling the cab.

Note that I already have a 1x12 Peavey Classic 30 as well.

Help me figure this out, Shortscale.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:04 am

I'd get the combo, nothing is more annoying than having an underpowered amp. Then you can carry on using the setup you already have as well, or even all at once for a WALL OF SOUNDZZ.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:09 am

Gabriel wrote:I'd get the combo, nothing is more annoying than having an underpowered amp. Then you can carry on using the setup you already have as well, or even all at once for a WALL OF SOUNDZZ.

I know, right? But I don't drive so transport will be an issue. Unless I'm crafty and get a bass player who drives. I'm seriously leaning toward the 1x12 or 2x12.

So little space in my house right now.

luciguci · Post by **luciguci** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:43 am

get the 2x12. you know it's the only way.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:49 am

I fucking hate you guys.

The 2x12 last year was something like Â£800. It's Â£350. Even if I decide it isn't for me, it's like a guilt-free purchase.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:50 am

ekwatts wrote:I know, right? But I don't drive so transport will be an issue.

I'm in exactly the same position, I keep downsizing but it just doesn't sound the same. I've ended up back with a 50 watt 1x12 combo with a huge EV speaker which weighs a tonne.

George · Post by **George** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:02 am

buy a magna cart and some bungees

they're awesome

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:09 am

Just wondering about the extension outputs; do I have to take the internal speakers into account? For instance, if I were to plug the two 16ohm speakers from my Zilla cab into the Ampeg 1/2x12 it says to use the linked 8ohm outputs for two 16ohm loads in parallel. Would I be able to do that leaving the internal 16ohm jack in the sole 16ohm socket, or would I need to stick that one in one of the 8ohm sockets, leaving me the ability to use only one of the 16 ohm speakers from the Zilla?

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:14 am

George wrote:buy a magna cart and some bungees

they're awesome

This is exactly what I use. It works great when I need to lug my amps around (although the feet on my Rivera are just too close together to stop the amp sitting properly on the trolley, but it's not too much of a problem with the bungee cords.

ekwatts wrote:Just wondering about the extension outputs; do I have to take the internal speakers into account? For instance, if I were to plug the two 16ohm speakers from my Zilla cab into the Ampeg 1/2x12 it says to use the linked 8ohm outputs for two 16ohm loads in parallel. Would I be able to do that leaving the internal 16ohm jack in the sole 16ohm socket, or would I need to stick that one in one of the 8ohm sockets, leaving me the ability to use only one of the 16 ohm speakers from the Zilla?

I guess it depends on the amp - on one of my amps I can plug an external in and leave the internal on but the other I can't, it's probably in the amp manual.

George · Post by **George** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:29 am

you can leave the combo speakers with no connection to the amp if you want edit: when using other external speakers(!)

your concern is to make sure you are matching the ohmage of the amp and combined ohmage of whatever combination of speaker you have. the combined wattage of the speakers should be enough to handle the amp, i.e. equal or greater than, but then again if you're not ragging the amp at full volume you may get away with a wattage discrepancy

with a tube output transformer, it really needs to be fed into a speaker that matches ohmage constantly otherwise it can fuck up. i certainly don't think you can have say, an 8ohm speaker in parallel with a 16ohm speaker at the same time.

my glorious digital modelling mustang 1 head can have no speakers or an ohmage mismatch. it doesn't give a shit.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:36 am

http://www.ampeg.com/products/gvt/manua ... 212_OM.pdf

I think it treats itself as a 16ohm cab.

Hmm.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:40 am

Annoyingly the 1x12 seems to have a single 16 ohm speaker as well.

There's really no way I can get around the 2x16ohm and 2x8ohm problem here if the internal/external outputs can't be split. So I'll probably end up selling the Zilla. IF I get the 2x12.

George · Post by **George** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:49 am

you can flip the stock speakers on ebay as v30s do well

then just buy the ones you need

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:53 am

They're Celestion Seventy 80s, though.

There's a Harley Benton cab that comes with V30s, though..

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:50 pm

Buy a 15" cab. Run your current setup with a 12 and a 15

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:15 pm

I was really interested in those Ampegs Eric, and came >this< close to buying one. The 15w head is the best of the lot, followed by the 15w combo, with the bigger combos coming in quite a distant third. The 15w amp does a great job of doling out classic Ampeg sounds, does great cleans, and is an amazing pedal platform. For the 50w version they appear to have run out of ideas and just bunged on a fairly shitty sounding generic high-gain channel.

Buy the 15w head. I'll be infinitely jealous.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:38 pm

After watching some youtube demos, I'd have to agree with benecol, the 15 watt head looks like much more fun.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:54 pm

I've recently come to the conclusion that some sort of 1x12 combo is the ideal amp for everything ever - at least if you have to carry it yourself - so do an 50 watt!

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:03 pm

Freddy V-C wrote:I've recently come to the conclusion that some sort of 1x12 combo is the ideal amp for everything ever - at least if you have to carry it yourself - so do an 50 watt!

That's why I'm still dithering over selling my Boogie...I don't get full use out of it now, but I'd kick myself if I got rid then needed it later. A 50W 1x12 is just about practical for lugging around; it's basically a whole rig carried without making two trips: amp in one hand, pedalboard in the other and guitar gigbag over your back. Even if it breaks down, you can unplug the speaker and connect that to another amp.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:09 pm

Depends on the 1x12. My Classic is just about portable for a while, but it'll get you in the end. Upping to a 2x12 wouldn't make an enormous amount of difference.