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Hey guys. I was just wondering if anyone has ever heard of using a combo amp kind of like a pre-amp for a cabinet. I mean there's a line out on my combo and rather than spend a huge chunk of money on a pre-amp and a cabinet I was wondering if it would work to buy just the cabinet and run a cable from the combo into it. Sorry if this is a lame question that's obvious to the rest of the musical world. Thanks.

..That's exactly what I use on all my gigs! I've got a 150 watt Line6 combo and I hook it up to a stereo cabinet with 4 12" celestions! Not only does it give ithe sound ballz but it also looks real cool with the combo on top of the cabinet....

Sorry, but this is the best pic I've got of the set-up at the mo! This is from one of our latest gigs:



(if you're real observant, you'll notice the black nail polish my wife applied to my fingaz 10 minutes before showtime)

Nice setup, Crip2Nite!

I like it. I actually have wondered the same thing before, so I am happy Beardo asked that question. By the way, cool nails!

I think I am going to paint them black when I gig as well.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

I may be wrong but a line out would not by itself amplify a cab. You need to use the speaker outs like Crip is doing. The line out would need to go thru another power amp and then to a cab. Your combo should have additional speaker outs on the back that could power a cab. I sometimes drive a 4x12 cab with a little combo amp I have. I always unplug the speaker in the combo and just drive the cab.

Crip, If your wife gets you to wear a dress, I dont know what Im going to think!

Crip, If your wife gets you to wear a dress, I dont know what Im going to think!

Lmao!

You might have to change the resistance setting if you do this, my Marshall TSL is a combo with two 12s, but if I use the speaker out to a 4x12 cabinet I believe you go from 8 ohms to 4 ohms. Any gear freaks know for sure?

Alright, awesome guys. Thanks a lot. I'll definitly figure something out know that I know it will actually work. Lator.

Beardo,
Jimmy gives good advice to take care about "impedance issues". Mismatched speaker ohm's have been known to damage some amps. Depending on the sound you're after, some guitar playin' sounds better with the "open back ' or "infinite baffle"configuration. (an example would be our beloved "Fender Twin" , or" Super Reverb" amps). A better option may be to simply "mike" them if you're only looking for improved sound dispersion. In the "old days", guitarist would actually use the "tilt back legs" featured on these amps. Sounded great in most playing situations.

John

This thread reminded me of something I did years ago.

A drummer friend of mine worked in a car stereo store. This was in the days when we all put Jensen CoAxes or TriAxes in our cars. This store had a huge box of OEM speakers that came out of peoples cars, so my buddy brings them to the band room. The other guys in the band decide not to show up so we decide to amuse ourselves. We plug these little 6x9 speakers to my 150 watt Sunn Model T. Some of them would last for 2 - 3 minutes before they fried. He had a big box and we went thru all of them, we would wire 8 to 10 together at a time. That old Sunn is a tough amp, Ive still got it and it still runs termites out of the walls. The bad thing was his boss found someone to buy the speakers a few days after we destroyed them all. Its too bad we didnt have video cameras back then, on the other hand its probably better to protect the innocent.

J.W..
Ironically, I've done a similar thing many years ago! Took the speaker line out of the old Super Reverb, hooked it up to a 3 inch transistor radio speaker lying on the floor, plugged in the Farfisa Combo Compact, and flayed on the keys! I also did not have the foresight to record the torturous sounds emanating from that poor little bugger before it blew out its voice coil in a display of smoke and stench. Boys will be boys. ....later
John

my 2 cents:

hmm, go ahead and try the line out... but it won't work... it's line level.
just grab the speaker out (you know two wires going to spkr), check impedence... wire parallel or series accordingly... wha la... you'll play through the cab...
if ya really wanna get fancy you could wire the original spkr with the new cab too... but you'd have to make sure impedence was ok.

good luck.