Powering an 8x10 and properly. Enough power with my set up?

jaredcarman · #1 10-11-2011, 01:46 PM

Ok. This is a tired subject i know. Ohms and watts and yak yak yak. Im not going to ask for the breakdown of the whole thing again. Ill try and be more specific with my problem/interest and work on understanding that whole thing first.

Im a traveling musician. Ive always played an 8x10 and will always need to. My band is very loud and aggressive. Ive played almost every head there is too play. Everything from Ampeg to GK to solid state to mesa. its all been played on. i went tube for a while and is too much to keep up with and too heavy to lug around. Almost all of these of have **** the bed on me. All of my solid states have cut off mid set. I know what happened with my tube heads. they just arent meant for the road and beating that i lay down on them.

so now im on a gk 800. im more pleased with the sound and tone than most amps ive owned. i want to stick with it. i understand it to be a very reliable head. it sounds great. im currently playing an american p with active pj emgs and a sans amp and it sounds beast. i love it. ive only gigged with it once now though and am about to go out for six weeks.

so heres my question. how should i be running this? what type of things can i make sure i do to keep this thing in working order. i dont want it do pop and die on me. do i need to get a power amp to help push it? does that work? and how would i run that? or is this head enough to push the 8x10? i really just dont understand that stuff. i want this head to stay beasting for ever. help me understand. do i need more watts here? ohms?

lend me your thoughts

Rick Auricchio · #2 10-11-2011, 01:51 PM

Sounds like you're pretty rough on your equipment, so anything you have will be likely to fail eventually. Bring spares.

The GK should be fine. Adding a power amp is just more stuff that you'll kill. Why bother?

Also, it would be wise to keep the aggressiveness of your music separate from aggressively beating up your tools.

JimmyM · #3 10-11-2011, 01:53 PM

How do you run it? Make sure you have a 4 ohm or higher speaker load, such as the 810e, turn it on, get a sound, start rocking. Of course it'll be enough to power an 810e. Cabs don't require a minimum amount of power to work. If they did, then you could never turn down the volume.

And quit being rough on your gear. Sounds like any amp would **** the bed in your hands

Curtybob · #4 10-11-2011, 02:03 PM

What 8x10 are you playing through?

Has it's wiring or drivers been tampered with or replaced?

When you say "beating", are you physically rough with your amps, or are you just implying that the noises you require them to produce are wearing the components out?

Caca de Kick · #5 10-11-2011, 02:10 PM

Sounds to me that your gear failures are from road jarring/damage, not from playing it.
How are you loading your gear in the truck? Have you ever had any padded head cases?

An 800RB is a pretty classic tried and true setup.

jaredcarman · #6 10-11-2011, 03:27 PM

its an ampeg 810 classic. no different wiring or anything. i really do have good cases and what not. i take care of everything best i can for sure.

when i say beating i was trying to get my point across that it gets turned up quite a bit and is taken on the road. im not really beating it with a hammer. i just feel like im asking for advice from those who might be playing a combo amp or in jazz clubs and i wanted to convey my point.

so a power amp isnt going to help preserve my head? like as in it gets tired from being cranked a lot and needs this as something to lean on. ok. im just excited about this head and would like it to be part of my music for as long as possible. can someone help me understand ohms and watts. what im doing there?

Sartori · #7 10-11-2011, 03:33 PM

Get road cases for your heads. Maybe get a fan or something to keep them cool when they get turned up.

majortoby · #8 10-11-2011, 03:46 PM

You may find that using a power amp would violate the tone you love so much. I may be terribly mistaken, but I do believe that GK heads actually derive some of their sound from the power section. It is my understanding that if you use the distortion, this is especially the case.

lowfreq33 · #9 10-11-2011, 03:54 PM

Sounds like two things. One, you should get a shock mounted rack case if you don't already have one, they do make a difference.

Two, if you're cranking your amps to eleven all the time you need more wattage. All the power you're pushing produces a lot of heat which will eventually cause things like capacitors and resistors to fail. The good news is that the 800RB is an incredibly reliable amp, I personally have never heard of one failing.

Caca de Kick · #10 10-11-2011, 04:20 PM

By "cases", I meant shock mount or padded cases specifically designed for the road. Riding in the backs of trucks and vans can really jar things inside the heads and end up breaking solder joints, tubes and whatever else can be delicate.

Tired, no. Neglected, yes.

Ender_rpm · #11 10-11-2011, 05:52 PM

+1 for bringing a back up amp. 800s are pretty sturdy, and having 2 in your rack won't add TOO much extra weight. Or even get an MB500 mini amp- it's a $500 insurance policy against a ruined gig.

grendle · #12 10-11-2011, 09:57 PM

Yep. 2 words : road cases

**B-string** · #13 10-11-2011, 10:14 PM

The 800RB is workhorse! First NEVER plug a 4 ohm cab into the 100 watt "high" amp. Second NEVER connect the 300 watt and 100 watt amps together. If you want to expand the dynamic range from the amp use the biamp feature with a 8 ohm cab on the 100 watt amp and find a crossover point that sounds good to you. IF you need more power the effects send can go to an external power amp but the boost will not be there. The "Boost" circuit is post effects send and DI. If the heatsink fins get bent carefully straighten them, people have added a fan on that rear heatsink. I played one for years in Arizona 120+ degree summers without any trouble though.