Thoughts on the small amp trend

[Zachman]

........You'd be surprised how many times I've heard guys tell me the problem w/ my 180 Watt MKIII Coliseum to get the sounds they want, and when I get it at TV volumes they go into their "Oh I heard....." diatribe, which was just proven false.

* one thing to consider. A tube change on a ht-5 vs a tube change on your 100 watt amp. Over years of use your gonna save money.

Then I went on a rant-- Not aimed at him.

re: 100 Watt amps sounding bigger, I agree

no worries about a rant on my end my smallest amp is 30 watts but I mainly play my mark iv or roadster when people are sleeping because I get better lower volume sounds than I do with my 30 watt amp.

I find that the same applies for me too, at higher volumes too.

 

[1big1]

i wasn't implying that an ht 5 is going to sound anywhere near similar to a 65 amps. they're totally different platforms and don't sound anything alike. all i was trying to indicate is that some folks like to crank an amp because of its characteristics when pushed hard. smaller wattage setups are easier to do that with without bleeding into everything else if you choose to go that route. plus at the end of the evening they're way easier on the back.

 

[billboogie]

+1 on that That is exactly why I do what I do. Both amps I use sound wonderful when cranked. I tried attenuaters and I did'nt like what they did to my tone. So I went to smaller tubes and this is what worked for me. I never have a hard time hearing myself or being heard, what I run is perfect for my situation. Still a bitch at night's end cause I can't seem to get away from two 2x12s. gotta have them

 

[locoed]

I think your heading sums it up (Trend) Though i do like the Transatlantic,tons of different tones.
And thats saying something since it's a mesa.
My only beef is why spend a ton of money on a 10 watt amp when 50 or 100 watt amp is near the same price range? Since most of us have a hotplate what's the point?
However i can understand studio musicians being interested in micro amps,if that's how
they make they're living.
My opinion? It's a trend.

 

[1big1]

on the other hand.. i also like running pedals through my 4x12 setup. you can get good tones both pre and post. what i don't understand is why some folks think they need to play a small venue at volume levels that could fill an arena. three days of tinnitus after a gig should tell you you're doing something wrong.. but still some folks don't get that point. i guess that topic would be its own thread.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

baaah


i love the sound of hundred watters. very visceral experience.

however if i was doing a hundred gigs a year, i would go even smaller and just get me a boss gt-10 and plug straight into the board.

imagine heading to a paying gig with just a guitar gig bag and a small duffel bag!

 

[stephen sawall]

I just jumped on gmarts.org and read that a 100watt amp though the same speakers as 50watt amp is only 3dbs louder. Is this correct? I just want to get my facts straight. Sorry for misleading anyone before but I'm still a little confused. Also cranked tube saturation is not for everyone, it is a matter of taste.I may have to change tubes a little more often but my two 6v6's and two L84's are gonna cost me less than your larger wattage tubes so I don't see that as a drawback.

That is correct, 3dB for doubling power with everything else held constant (which it rarely is).

I think I am just questioning whether its worth it to own larger amps when not playing out. I don't have a line of site to use my amps to play out in the future. My current gig I use the house amps. I feel like I am idling my 35-100Watt amps....

Bill you had it right ..... I have a fever and a few of my post have been effected ..... I am getting strange dreams also. Sorry.

 

[stephen sawall]

I was under the impression the smaller amps were aimed at recording, maybe that was a wrong assumption. With the drummer I used to play with a 10 watt amp would not cut it at all

How many and what kind of speakers were you using ?

I did not have one, I was using 2 MK III Boogies and 412's for each. I was just saying our drummer played really loud, and it took a bit of wattage to be heard over him.

I have done gigs with a Fender Champ and a TS9 (6 watts & 8 in speaker) ..... with it pointed at my head I was amazed how well it cut.

If I take my Egnator Rebel 20 and put it on the 1 watt setting and run it into a stack ..... It was more than loud enough to do a gig for me.

I guess it comes down to some people are less sensitive to using very different rigs. I can work with just about anything if I need too.

 

[Zachman]

I was under the impression the smaller amps were aimed at recording, maybe that was a wrong assumption. With the drummer I used to play with a 10 watt amp would not cut it at all

How many and what kind of speakers were you using ?

I did not have one, I was using 2 MK III Boogies and 412's for each. I was just saying our drummer played really loud, and it took a bit of wattage to be heard over him.

I have done gigs with a Fender Champ and a TS9 (6 watts & 8 in speaker) ..... with it pointed at my head I was amazed how well it cut.

If I take my Egnator Rebel 20 and put it on the 1 watt setting and run it into a stack ..... It was more than loud enough to do a gig for me.

I guess it comes down to some people are less sensitive to using very different rigs. I can work with just about anything if I need too.

That's true, but "Need" and passion-- when spending your hard earned dollars, for your preference is another story.

I've done gigs w/ a Line6 XT Live straight to the board. It worked, but was by far NOT an inspiring sensation.

It's ALWAYS better to be able to make do than not... BUT-- It's ALWAYS more satisfying when NOT having to compromise.

 

[1big1]

somebody should have told leo he started a trend when he made the 22 watt dr.

 

[stephen sawall]

There is for me a point where the compromise can be a distraction.

 

[1big1]

understood.

 

[thunda]

baaah


i love the sound of hundred watters. very visceral experience.

however if i was doing a hundred gigs a year, i would go even smaller and just get me a boss gt-10 and plug straight into the board.

imagine heading to a paying gig with just a guitar gig bag and a small duffel bag!

I have done that very thing many times with just my LP and xtLive. Load in and out much nicer than the Heartbreaker and 4x12 cab

ty

 

[JTyson]

I was under the impression the smaller amps were aimed at recording, maybe that was a wrong assumption. With the drummer I used to play with a 10 watt amp would not cut it at all

How many and what kind of speakers were you using ?

I did not have one, I was using 2 MK III Boogies and 412's for each. I was just saying our drummer played really loud, and it took a bit of wattage to be heard over him.

I have done gigs with a Fender Champ and a TS9 (6 watts & 8 in speaker) ..... with it pointed at my head I was amazed how well it cut.

If I take my Egnator Rebel 20 and put it on the 1 watt setting and run it into a stack ..... It was more than loud enough to do a gig for me.

I guess it comes down to some people are less sensitive to using very different rigs. I can work with just about anything if I need too.

I'm sure there are scenarios where that would work fine, I just never ran into any of those. We were always trying to shave the heads of the people that were up front Why use a stick if a M60 machine gun would work better?

 

[stephen sawall]

I was under the impression the smaller amps were aimed at recording, maybe that was a wrong assumption. With the drummer I used to play with a 10 watt amp would not cut it at all

How many and what kind of speakers were you using ?

I did not have one, I was using 2 MK III Boogies and 412's for each. I was just saying our drummer played really loud, and it took a bit of wattage to be heard over him.

I have done gigs with a Fender Champ and a TS9 (6 watts & 8 in speaker) ..... with it pointed at my head I was amazed how well it cut.

If I take my Egnator Rebel 20 and put it on the 1 watt setting and run it into a stack ..... It was more than loud enough to do a gig for me.

I guess it comes down to some people are less sensitive to using very different rigs. I can work with just about anything if I need too.

I'm sure there are scenarios where that would work fine, I just never ran into any of those. We were always trying to shave the heads of the people that were up front Why use a stick if a M60 machine gun would work better?

That is why I use two 50 watt or bigger amps most of the time. The little amps do not produce as much bass as I would like for a lot of things.

 

[billboogie]

Stephen, It's all good. I just wanted to get my facts straight. Hope you feel better. The smaller amps won't be a trend because they are practical. You have more bedroom musicians and bar gigging musicians than stadium rockers and they just don't need that much power. I can use more of my volume stacks because nobodies ears are bleeding when I get to 3 or 4 o'clock on them. Also, choice of cabinet and speakers will get you the bass response you are looking for.

 

[1big1]

i'm going to be looking at smaller low wattage setups sometime this year because i have a real use for one.. and prefer tubes over modelers for the sounds i like. it will fill a void for me. i don't have anything in the 30 watt or so range for club gigs. i've been using a cube 60 for that and it works fairly well.. but i can't crank it up quite enough for smooth leads and controlled crunch in some small clubs so i use an sd1 as a boost. i ordered a bluesbreaker two pedal from mf thinking i could use it in front of the jc 120 channel and go from clean to crunch to od that way. i'll see how that works for me. but a 30 or so watter cranked is awfully tempting.

 

[stephen sawall]

Stephen, It's all good. I just wanted to get my facts straight. Hope you feel better. The smaller amps won't be a trend because they are practical. You have more bedroom musicians and bar gigging musicians than stadium rockers and they just don't need that much power. I can use more of my volume stacks because nobodies ears are bleeding when I get to 3 or 4 o'clock on them. Also, choice of cabinet and speakers will get you the bass response you are looking for.

Well that's the thing .... they do not. I like the small amps, but no matter what else is used without the big transformers there is no way to get the big modern bass I use for a lot of things.

I have over a dozen amps from 5 to 150 watts, over 40 guitar speakers and more than a dozen cabinets. ..... and have tried out I do not know how much gear. Most of the gigs I do now are small, but I have opened for a lot of major acts and have played in front of thousands many times. I mostly just bring the small amps as a back up if the bigger ones have a problem or am just being lazy.

No matter what you do with a small amp .... it well not put out the bass of a Dual Rectifier/ Ubershall / Herbert as far as I can tell.

 

[JTyson]

I do admire guys that can show up with pretty much anything and still sound great. You have to be a real guitar player to pull that off. I dont know if I fit in that catagory

 

[1big1]

there are a number of factors that figure into bass response. however if you need to have the response of an uber.. you need to have it.. and a small amp won't do that for a number of reasons.