Jack

I've had 3 midgets (original) a compact and 2 FR800s. I can guarantee you that rig will see of most of the competition.

Me too, but a pair is pretty much the same price a single RCF 745. If I'm going to use 1 cab I'd prefer the QSC as it's smaller and lighter (I'd also get the pair so hey, free pa system) but if I'm often going to need 2 of the QSCs I'd rather have a single, bigger cabinet. My problem is varying stage volumes. 90% of my gigs can be done with none or at least very little, but we still do loads of big ballrooms and biker rallies and such that demand way more.

Which RCFs did you use? I'm trying to work out if the QSC will be enough or if I'll need something like the 735.

Given that the Trickfish cabinets are pretty average at best for 1x12"s you might actually be able to find a top-flight 1x10" that is similar or even out-performs it. I'm thinking of something like the Fearless 110 similar. However, they're likely to be just as big and heavy as an MI-grade 1x12", so there's probably no point.

Depends on what you mean by 'inability'. They will and can, but you usually need an extension cabinet to do it. I know, it seems weird but pretty much every manufacturer does it. I remember being really disheartened to find out that my then-new pride and joy Laney R5 was only really 180W.

But it does have lights.

I am lumping them together and I'm not meaning to. I've had and enjoyed both in the past and I'm aware of the differences I'm just not explaining myself well. What I really want is something that mimics a vintagey, Marshall guitar amp turned up loud type tone. We do a couple of Who tracks and a few other oldies that benefit from a distorted sound that doesn't have extreme highs or lows but has plenty of snarl. On the Helix I use a Marshall guitar amp and 4x12" set to overdrive into oblivion to achieve that. On my new Fender combo I use the HiWatt model. That's the kind of sound I'm after.

Thanks. The one thing I don't want to do is sacrifice good sound for size, I'd rather buy a bigger board. I should have mentioned that only one needs to be mini sized, the other can be roughly Boss-sized. So something like the the Matryoshka could work with a bigger fuzz or vice versa. I've also just seen that the newer Knightfall is a dual OD. Does anyone know how different can they be made to sound? Can I have one side modern and grunty and the other fuzzy and vintagey?

Hi guys, Planning a board that's going to be Wireless (Shure GLX6D) Boost (TC Spark Mini) Synth (???) Vintage Fuzz/OD (???) Modern OD (Cog Knightfall) Preamp (Sansamp paradriver) Because of space restraints, either of the as-yet-undecided synth or olde worlde fuzz will have to be mini-sized. Does anyone have any good suggestions please? I've had the Joyo Orange Juice before that I quite liked, so that's a contender. Any others? EDIT - Only one needs to be mini as long as the other is roughly boss-sized.

I got my Rumble 800 for £525 second-hand on here and it's a great little combo. I know they do the 500 too which is pretty much the same amp but without all of the modelling gubbins. That's where I'd go if I had to do it again.

I borrowed one of our PA tops to use a wedge for a gig that had supplied PA. The 712 wasn't enough for me. My gut feeling is that there is quite a gap between the 712 and the 732.

That's the assumption that I'm making, but again I don't know for sure either. I'm well aware that there's nothing user configurable such as the QSC has, but I'd at least like something. It is, after all, being used outside of it's original design intention. That is a possibility for me, but it means having two cables running from frontline to backline as my preamp is on my pedalboard. This would not be an issue if my wedge was to be in front of me like a traditional monitor, but it would be if the wedge was behind like a bass amp. The other option I have is to go preamp>pa>wedge but this relies on always having a dedicated aux. Fine when we run our own sound but not with somebody else's pa.

Deciding between a QSC K12.2 and an RCF 7xx. What's the DSP like in the RCF 7 series? Is there any? I see a use case where I go pedalboard>wedge>PA mixer in that order and so I wouldn't want to apply a hpf at the pedalboard (as that would also apply it to the pa feed). I know the QSC would allow me to apply a hpf in the wedge and it has internal limiters etc to make sure the speaker doesn't get damaged anyway. Does the RCF have internal limiters and such to prevent over excursion? I should ask RCF really...

They were definitely made with both.

The problem with this... ..is that. @Hutton fwiw like I mentioned before, most people actually seem cool with using the Walkabout down to 2R. Whilst I'm sure that it's not recommended, you might actually be able to use another cabinet with your combo. I said before the best bet was likely to track down a matching extension speaker. Whilst you still could, I'm pretty sure that any extension cabinet made for the Walkabout Scout will be 8R, then you run into things like the power not being split evenly, blah blah blah. You could try to source a matching(ish) Mesa 2x12" cabinet that was 4R. Then you'd have three Mesa 12" speakers getting about 100W or so each. But then you're back at the technically-not-ok-2R thing. And to top it all off, it's not really matching is it? They're the same brand and driver size but that means squat. I think you're onto the right track: Find a big, old school cabinet that most people can't be bothered to use any more and cart it out the few times you actually need it and use the combo the rest of the time.

Bill I understand your point (and I'm already nervous about disagreeing with you!) but are you really suggesting that something much bigger with many more drivers like the Barefaced 610 I mentioned in my above post woun't be significantly louder? Not only will it be able to take the full output of the head without breaking a sweat but it'll be more sensitive, voiced more aggressively and closer to the OP's ears.

The obvious answer is that Mesa made matching 1x12" extension cabs that paired with the combo. Long discontinued but worth mentioning. You'll struggle to find cabs that use a passive radiator like the Mesa combo you already have does. They're not commonly used but don't worry about this. Do you know what impedance the speaker in your combo is? It'll be either 4R or 8R in there already. If it's 4R you'll have to take the amp head out and use an entirely seperate cabinet. If it's 8R you have the option to run both the combo and another cab. Technically, the Walkabout head is unofficially stable down to 2R, but we'll leave that aside for the moment. I'd be looking at a big boy, 4R cabinet if it was me. Then I'd use the combo for small gigs and the head and cab for bigger ones. I think if you like the way the combo sounds then you might enjoy something like a Barefaced 610. Or maybe a Bergantino NV model, they made a few different speaker configurations and I believe most were 4R.

We play very different venues.

There's one of those in a local rehearsal room. It's a pretty nice sounding cab actually, I've always liked 8x10"s because they're so capable in terms of volume that you really have the freedom to cut or boost as much as you want to shape them as you see fit. It does lend itself quite nicely to a pick and some roundwounds though, its' home turf is definitely the kind of bands where the guitarists also use Marshall. It's really easy to roll on the wheels but I wouldn't fancy the lift into my car boot.

Yeah it's not being able to hear myself on stage. Combo sound is mostly just for me but the stages we play are small enough that some of it will make it into the audience. I used to use a Quicklok stand that both lifted and tilted my cab but it gave out once between soundcheck and downbeat, dropping the combo onto the rear control panel with all the cables still attached. I essentially had the whole ~20kg combo fall 50cm onto the XLR output. It's really dented in, but miraculously both it and the cable that were plugged still works. I'm now back to my Markbass wedge but it's not enough and the combo is still pointed at my knees. The other problems that I have are that this new amp has controls on the top, meaning I can't really stack anything on top of it either at home or at a gig. Secondly, the combo is really light but it's only got one flimsy handle on top, actually making it quite difficult to carry long distances. Lastly, I bought this amp second hand and it came with a Roqsolid cover but it's the flimsiest dust cover, so whatever happens I need to buy something to protect the amp. I know that buying a matching an extension cab or a monitor wedge will solve the hearing myself problem but it's a lot of extra weight and space to carry. My thinking was that a flight case doesn't take up too much more room in the car, is a great stage stand (on wheels so it's easy to plug cables in!) and means I wouldn't have to take my trolley to gigs.

Guitar amps don't boom hollow stages or rattle snares, they generally seem to interact with the environment less.

Considering one of my bands is a *shudder* indie rock band there are usually 3 parkas at any given gig. As a recovering teenage goth I don't have a parka and it's been a while since I wore my leather trenchcoat. Hmmmmm, I hadn't thought about rattles too. Thanks for pointing that out. Lots of bands use cables that aren't black as well but that doesn't make it morally acceptable. Seriously I can think of several times I've seen guitarists do this but never a bassist AFAIK.