How big of an amp do I need for a jam session?

[darkhorse9]

I'm planning on joining a jam session that will include probably four or five acoustic guitars and maybe one or two electric guitars in a room with about 100 people singing along.

How many watts do I need to be heard without blasting everyone out? My 500 watts GK mb210 is probably too much and my Acoustic B10 is too small.

[somegeezer]

Your 210 will be fine.

[hrodbert696]

I always heard the rule was at least double the watts the guitarist has, just as a rule of thumb.

[Spinal Tapper]

Use the GK. You can always turn down, but you can't make it louder if you run out of headroom with a smaller amp. Besides, a 2x10 combo is not a large amp by any means.

[cassanova]

The 2x10 will do the job fine.

I've done jobs that size and larger with my Genz Benz M200 2x10 combo.

I've also seen Vince Gill's bassist Willie Weeks play an arena size gig using nothing more than a 2x10 for his stage monitor. It's plenty, especially for what you'll be doing.

As far as not blasting everyone out, you can have a 1000 watt rig and not drown everyone out. That is what volume/gain control knobs are for. Just because you have all that power doesn't mean you have to unleash it.

[SurferJoe46]

I use the Volume control too, but I always carry at least 600 Watts and at least another 410 with my 210 combo and maybe just run a 115 for those intimate times. If I use the 810 and another 410 for those Senior Citizen Rest Homes, they seem to dance a lot more than if I just run a 210/combo.

Maybe they aren't dancing though. Hmmm.

Seriously, 300 Watts is the least power I would consider and that's been talked about here numerous times - but that's my old ways; I let the amp/cabs stand alone and that way I am in control of my sound my way.

The Volume control is the one on my far left.

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by hrodbert696

I always heard the rule was at least double the watts the guitarist has, just as a rule of thumb.

Three to five times would be more accurate.

Paul

[countrybass007]

Let's see, our guitar players use from 30 to 90 watts, and I use 500 to 700. Yeah, I'd say 5 times is accurate.

[nato101010]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

Three to five times would be more accurate.

Paul

Yeah, I quadruple my guitarist wattage and it sits well at half volume. They are both roughly 100 watts.

[Craig_S]

You need a HYOOOOOOOOOGE amp to jam! Where have you been?

[Jaco who?]

Originally Posted by darkhorse9

How many watts do I need to be heard without blasting everyone out? My 500 watts GK mb210 is probably too much and my Acoustic B10 is too small.

Yes, the Acoustic is too small, but no, the MB210 is not going to be blasting anyone out. It's only 350 watts by itself, and it's still just two 10" speakers.

[Muaguana]

A 100w Marshall tube amp and one of these:

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....&CJPID=3353204

[RickenBoogie]

As alreadey stated, the 210 GK combo is fine for what you want. Anything less will be a disapointment. And, it's not the watts, it's the speakers that make the volume. 2 10's is as small as I'd ever consider, and actually, 2 12's is much more comfortable, for me.

[hdracer]

I would say that this should be enough

[Gord_oh]

<---------------------------------------------------->
this big!

i have 100 watt fender combo that does a nice job.
your acoustic could probably hold its own.
use what you have. unsure? use the bigger one.

[georgestrings]

Originally Posted by Spinal Tapper

Use the GK. You can always turn down, but you can't make it louder if you run out of headroom with a smaller amp. Besides, a 2x10 combo is not a large amp by any means.

+1 on all of the above...



- georgestrings

[Muaguana]

Originally Posted by hdracer

I would say that this should be enough

Man, I was looking for that picture for about 10 minutes before I finally decided to just post an MF link.