Suggestions/Recommendations

[Mahumadi]

I am moving on from my practice amp to a new rig. Ive never played out, so I dont know much about how much power is needed and whatnot. However, from doing some research here Ive come down to this...

I am currently playing rock music and ive noticed that 500 watts seems to be enough to get by at decent sized venues. I am thinking of getting a 210 @ 8 ohms for now. Eventually I will add another 210 or a 115.

I have $500 to spend on this rig. Id appreciate recommendations on a 210 and 500watt head for around that price.

[will33]

500 watts for a head is a good mark, you shouldn't need more than that. If you're playing rock, skip the 210 and get a 410, you'll need it. In most cases 300 watts and a 410 will hang with a rock band, a 210 no matter how many watts won't. More speakers will get you louder than more watts will.

In general 210's or 112's are for rehearsal, recording or quiet restaraunt/coffehouse type gigs, close onstage monitoring, etc., maybe blues jams in a small bar, jazz gigs or something where volume isn't much a part of the music.
If you're playing with guitar rigs that consist of more than one speaker or if there is any microphone anywhere on the drumkit, you need the 410.

[cassanova]

Originally Posted by Mahumadi

I am moving on from my practice amp to a new rig. Ive never played out, so I dont know much about how much power is needed and whatnot. However, from doing some research here Ive come down to this...

I am currently playing rock music and ive noticed that 500 watts seems to be enough to get by at decent sized venues. I am thinking of getting a 210 @ 8 ohms for now. Eventually I will add another 210 or a 115.

I have $500 to spend on this rig. Id appreciate recommendations on a 210 and 500watt head for around that price.

Many are going to say 500 is enough to get by. Some will say more and a few will say less. The truth is and based on my own experiences, that you can do gigs with something as little as a 100 - 200 watt combo. I've done medium sized venues like performing arts centers that seat up to 1000 people without pa support with a 75 watt 1x15 combo and it did the job adequately.

Providing there is a line out on the amp you should be able to play almost any sized gig without massive amounts of power because chances are you'll have pa support for larger venues, IMO if you don't have p/a support then you shouldn't be playing large venues. But for the average bar band, 100 - 300 watts of power is ample enough to get the job done.

Stage volume is not supposed to be that loud (thats what pa's are for) and the more professional gigs I've done we've actually be able to communicate with each other on stage without having to shout at the top of our lungs. Again, this is all IMO/IME.

[will33]

Originally Posted by cassanova

Many are going to say 500 is enough to get by. Some will say more and a few will say less. The truth is and based on my own experiences, that you can do gigs with something as little as a 100 - 200 watt combo. I've done medium sized venues like performing arts centers that seat up to 1000 people without pa support with a 75 watt 1x15 combo and it did the job adequately.

Providing there is a line out on the amp you should be able to play almost any sized gig without massive amounts of power because chances are you'll have pa support for larger venues, IMO if you don't have p/a support then you shouldn't be playing large venues. But for the average bar band, 100 - 300 watts of power is ample enough to get the job done.

Stage volume is not supposed to be that loud (thats what pa's are for) and the more professional gigs I've done we've actually be able to communicate with each other on stage without having to shout at the top of our lungs. Again, this is all IMO/IME.

Good points. This guy is moving from practice amp to gig amp though. Chances are he's either looking at playing places where his rig is FOH or if he is plugged into a PA, it's a cheap PA likely with someone who doesn't know that much about how to run it.