Downsizing

[patman]

Have been toying with "downsizing"...am already downsized to 2 ancient Peavey Combo 300's...I bought the second just as a "spare" in case #1 died.

We play very old school classic rock, ballads, rockabilly, with some R & B and funk (yes' I love to slap out "Superstition" or "Take me to the River" on a clean set of roundwounds-it's o-k in Ohio)..."Mercy" is probably the newest tune we do...we also do one Bon Jovi tune...this is as modern as we get...point is we have pretty good PA support and monitors when indoors...outdoors we hire out the appropriate large professional system (95% of the time, as long as the money is there--there's always a couple of jobs where the money sucks, but we do it anyway on our "indoor" system)...so really what I need is just a reliable workhorse stage monitor.

Are there any cheap one 12 or one 10  "workhorse" amps (100 watts or so) that weigh 50 lb's or less, and built with enough quality to still be running in 30 years (like my Peavey's)?  I'm very skeptical of newer Peavey's that I see, and the larger stuff still weighs a ton. Maybe Ampeg BA 112?

My youngest son has a little Nemesis combo that sounds good, but he's already had problems with it (it was being service for, like, 3 months).  This is what I would like to avoid.

Any ideas?

[rahock]

I'm a downsizer too but a single 12 is pushing it a little. I often use a single 15 Eminence in a really good cab an a GK backline head that's 8-10 lbs and delivers a great sounding 180 watts 8ohm/ 300 watts 4ohm. I didn't give up much for sound and it's a lot easier to haul around. Single 12 set ups I've seen aren't bad but there is a little something missing.
Rick

[Pilgrim]

I've just downsized, going from a 4x10 I never used and a single 15 to a Genz-Benz shuttle 6.0 and a pair of 12T speakers. With one 12" I'll push 375W, with two 600W.  That's all the power I need, plus a good deal.

This isn't the cheap route, but there are a lot of micro-amps out there the size of an Eden and under 10 lbs for 600+ watts of power.  Also, neo speakers have been around long enough that they are available used.  A 2x12 neo cabinet should be available used in the 50+ pound range, and that paired with a micro size amp would make for a wonderful setup.

My new stuff is a Christmas present, so I'm about 18 hours from having access to it.

[rahock]

Yep on the neo stuff. My other cab is an Avatar 2 12 neo Eminence with a tweeter and it's 50 some pounds. I use a 400watt (but heavy amp) and it will fill a pretty large room. It will outperform just about any brand vintage 2 15 cab. I was always a die hard 15 " speaker guy , using at least two and in the old days usually four, but these  12" neos in a decent cab make a 2 12 set up  a pretty darn strong set up. Great lows, ability to hit the back of a large room, just like a couple of 15s.
A single 12 set up can sound pretty good in the store or playing by yourself but there just isn't enough there to give you enough authority to cut through a couple of instruments , a drummer and hit the back of the room. They just leave you wanting more
Rick

[patman]

The kids may have solved this problem for me...they got me a heavy duty 800 lb test hand truck for Christmas...instead of getting a smaller amp, I got a better two wheeler...actually kind of makes sense.

Patman

[jmcgliss]

My downsize rig gets used the most: Eden WTX260 + 2 D112XLTs.  Live recordings prove it sits well in the mix without any boom on stage.

After selling an Eden 410XST and two SWR Goliath II 410's, my big rig is scaled down to an Eden 212XLT + 210XST.

If needed I can run all four cabs in dual mono with a WT800C.