Small, light, loud and good!??

[Bill Doss]

Gallien Krueger 1001RB II head with any of their Neo speaker cabs. They sound great, are lightweight, and made in California.

[Christopher Rhodes]

Interesting requirements.

Lightweight generally means more money - unless you search long and hard for something used.

Affordable - meanings under $1k.

I think the best bet is the Markbass amps. I understand the problem of having it serviced in the USA - so you only want only USA equip - that makes sense - however...

At 6.5 pounds I travel to gigs now with my amp head in a laptop bag. At 500 watts @4ohm - it has plenty of power for small to medium gigs. Ive even down an outside winery gig with it. I got it used for $500.

Some comparable USA models are GK, Claraus and the Eden WT 550 - each has more weight that the markbass. There could be other USA models available - but this is want comes to mind right now.

I think the small, light and loud - and high quality are a universasl requirement by a lot of gigging modern bass players. So check this link out: http://www.youtube.com/profile_video...rkbassAmps&p=v

I hope this helps.

[Scott Reed]

I recently borrowed a friends Mesa Walkabout Scout 112 and was blown away by how light and loud it was. I played a double gig, an outdoor concert called In The Streets in Frederick, Maryland and a small club called Firestones.

Plenty of volume for the outdoor stage and ran the club with no PA support. It is 300 watts, 12" speaker with and additional downfiring passive sub. They also make a 15" version but I have not played that one.

Anyway, it is highly recommended for small gigs and gigs with PA support. Its 50 lbs, here is some more info:

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Reviews/Ba...ayer-Scout.htm

I am currently looking for a used one, new they are a bit pricey.

[Tim Bishop]

My latest recommendation for "Small, light, loud and good!??"

Just got my Eden WTX-260 a couple of days ago. At 3.8lbs, the tone, power, and options on this little guy is incredible. At a 4-Ohm load it will flat bring it. I played it through an Eden 210XST(4) and it pushed that cabinet without stoppin to take a breath. Plus, you can carry it in your gig-bag! What's not to like?

Check it out:

http://www.eden-electronics.com/info...260feature.asp

[Albert Smith]

Originally Posted by Tim Bishop

My latest recommendation for "Small, light, loud and good!??"

Just got my Eden WTX-260 a couple of days ago. At 3.8lbs, the tone, power, and options on this little guy is incredible. At a 4-Ohm load it will flat bring it. I played it through an Eden 210XST(4) and it pushed that cabinet without stoppin to take a breath. Plus, you can carry it in your gig-bag! What's not to like?

Check it out:

http://www.eden-electronics.com/info...260feature.asp

Tim I ordered the wrong rack ears for my WT 550 I order the Eden WTX-260 joints. If you need a pair of ears their yours free of charge.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Albert Smith

Tim I ordered the wrong rack ears for my WT 550 I order the Eden WTX-260 joints. If you need a pair of ears their yours free of charge.

Thx Al, I do appreciate you thinking of me. However, my WTX-260 will never see a rack as long as I own it. At 3.8 lbs. it's too easy to carry in the pouch of my bass case. Plus, I will be useing the 260 primarily as a DI to FOH and at home as DI into my recording interface.

Hey, you might want to hang on to those. You never know, you may end up with a 260 someday.

[David Powell]

Lightweight, USA built with 5 yr. warranty, powerful: Ampeg Portabass series. OK, it isn't necessarily "affordable" depending on the definition.

I have the PB800 head (500 W at 4 Ohms, 800 Watts at 2 Ohms). It weighs about 20 lbs. I use it with a PB 212H cab (4 Ohms) uses Italian poplar plywood (it is built in the USA though) and neodymium magnets to save weight. It has a tweeter for the highs with a volume control on the back of the cab for the tweeter. It has wheels, a baggage type collapsible handle and weighs only 38 lbs. They do make a smaller combo Portabass amp that weighs only 30 lbs. total, but I don't have experience with that. They also make a 2x10 version of the cab. I've used this rig for the loudest EBG gigs I've played and it was sufficient without going through the PA.

And then there is the AI Coda R or Contra R combo amps. Probably not enough speaker area for some applications but 400 Watts, ten, five, and tweeter at 20 lbs.