Decisions, decisions ? Half-stacks or combos?

[Saint Nick]

Long story short:

I own a Marshall cabinet (the cheapy) and a ValveKing 100 watt head. I love how it sounds, I hate moving it around and its almost entirely way too loud for the venues we play at. I'm considering selling ValveKing head and buying a ValveKing 212 and putting the Celestions from the Marshall in the 212 combo. It would be easier to move around, and although it may still be loud, it probably won't be as loud as the half-stack.

Or do you guys have any other suggestions on 212 combos in that price range with two channels? I heard the VK 212 combo sounds great with different speakers in it. I thought about a Fender Twin... I think that would get too pricey for me.

Just looking for some advice here, thanks guys.

 

[Ns1]

combo = portable
half stack = bragging rights

 

[Platypus]

I have both and to tell you the truth, I prefer head / cab setups. It gives you more versatile range as far as the kind of speaker you can use and you can keep your 4x12 banging at practice or wherever but bring a smaller extension cabinet to a gig and not overpower the room.

Combos are actually kind of a bitch to move because they are so heavy. My 2x12 combo weighs close to 90lbs for reference...

Fender Twin is like the opposite of your current tone.

Have you considered a smaller wattage combo amp like an Orange 30W? I had a Rocker 30 with a 1x12 and 30W of faux Class A power and that son of a bitch was LOUD if you wanted it to be but also since it had a great master volume circuit could get super dirty at lower volumes without sounding squashed.

100W is a bit overkill but I don't know the venues you are playing at.

You might also consider a power soak of some sort if you want to crank your amp but it's too loud before you get the distortion you're after.