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DaveDexterMusic
New member
A pretty beginner question from someone who should know better! My go-to amp for playing and recording at home is a Blues Junior, and more recently a Pro Junior as well, but I mix in a Marshall 1987x 50w. I've preferred the Fenders since I had to reduce my playing volume a couple of years ago and the Marshall is a huge jump even turned way down, but I still occasionally play it. Bear with me.
For ages my rig has been guitar/pedals/amp into a distant cab, mic'd up and sent back through my interfaces and out my monitors, so room tone and volume is a non-issue. I now use a cheap 1x10 that I added a G10 60w 8ohm speaker to, most recently in a big flight case and packed with heavy foam. I honestly prefer the sound of the 1x10, but that's a different thread. I used my Marshall through it today, at about the same volume as my Fenders are set, and had some odd noise - certain high notes sounded buzzy and not quite right. It's not the guitar, and I'm sure it's not a valve issue as they're new, and the Marshall's been played recently, but not through this speaker and iso cab for a year or more. There's none of that hard-to-place loss of sensitivity of dying valves. I wondered if my speaker, despite being 60w, isn't enough for the 50w head? I also doubt it's rattling in the cab, since I've been blasting through it for weeks without issue. But plug in the Marshall, with all the same gear, and a few troubling noises result. The impedance is matched and there's no reason to think any one bit of gear is suddenly playing up, the only new factor is the Marshall.
Seems illogical to wonder if a 60w speaker can't take a 50w amp, especially if the 50w is relatively quiet and the cab can take a smaller amp putting out the same volume. But guitar stuff is weird and full of foibles. Maybe that guitar hits a particular frequency through only that amp at those one or two notes. I wondered if anyone had thoughts or similar issues?
For ages my rig has been guitar/pedals/amp into a distant cab, mic'd up and sent back through my interfaces and out my monitors, so room tone and volume is a non-issue. I now use a cheap 1x10 that I added a G10 60w 8ohm speaker to, most recently in a big flight case and packed with heavy foam. I honestly prefer the sound of the 1x10, but that's a different thread. I used my Marshall through it today, at about the same volume as my Fenders are set, and had some odd noise - certain high notes sounded buzzy and not quite right. It's not the guitar, and I'm sure it's not a valve issue as they're new, and the Marshall's been played recently, but not through this speaker and iso cab for a year or more. There's none of that hard-to-place loss of sensitivity of dying valves. I wondered if my speaker, despite being 60w, isn't enough for the 50w head? I also doubt it's rattling in the cab, since I've been blasting through it for weeks without issue. But plug in the Marshall, with all the same gear, and a few troubling noises result. The impedance is matched and there's no reason to think any one bit of gear is suddenly playing up, the only new factor is the Marshall.
Seems illogical to wonder if a 60w speaker can't take a 50w amp, especially if the 50w is relatively quiet and the cab can take a smaller amp putting out the same volume. But guitar stuff is weird and full of foibles. Maybe that guitar hits a particular frequency through only that amp at those one or two notes. I wondered if anyone had thoughts or similar issues?
