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Are the big amps history?
- Thread starter jkalads
- Start date
Worth the weight for me. I will buy any SVT CL, Classic 400, Fender PS, SUNN, for $100. They are so history. I don't have any of the big amps, but I enjoy my 160-180 watt tube amps. I can always slave them if need be.
I'd buy them for $100 too... they should flip for at least $200.
Most venues in my city (Madrid, Spain) have a very small stage, so you cannot really use a full stack with your 810. Besides, you have to carry your own gear and when you are playing every week or every other week, you prefer to carry your class-D little amp with a lightweight cab that fits in every car. What is more, in most venues you cannot really tell the difference because of the PA they use (well, you will notice, but probably no one else).
No Class-D amp can really sound like the "big guys", but they are more comfortable to carry.
No Class-D amp can really sound like the "big guys", but they are more comfortable to carry.
Am I the only one who doesn't like SVTs and 8x10s........? 
Joking apart, I've always preferred the sound of a single 15. But, I'm not competing against Marshall stacks and the like. I play country - the guitarists use Fender Deluxe Reverbs etc, and the drummers are usually less animal-like.......
Joking apart, I've always preferred the sound of a single 15. But, I'm not competing against Marshall stacks and the like. I play country - the guitarists use Fender Deluxe Reverbs etc, and the drummers are usually less animal-like.......
Agreed 100% - I typically like to match volume with the drummer, and that approach has served me well...
The Monique's fame is due to its ability to give near power tube sound through power amps class D or your choice.
You can have it all
without the weight.
You can have it all
without the weight.Yeah, I disagreed with that, too - I pretty much always play thru some sort of bass rig, and frequently run sound while playing and checking out the room while using a wireless - if it didn't sound good for the "paying customers", I wouldn't do it...
I go one step farther... I carry the capability to play over the drummer. So on the rare occasions that I have to play the MAD card, it's nice to know that a big dose of calm down is an earplugs insert and volume bump away.
No doubt it's frustrating to watch a guy banging with you with no extra effort. And a ridiculously small rig. The Mouse that roared.
MAD = Mutually Assured Destructiion... we play so loud we both get fired.
:/
The comments I get on gigs about my rig rarely come from audience members. They typically comment on my playing and apparently couldn't care less how I get there. Which makes sense.
OTOH other musicians regularly comment and have questions about my gear.
OTOH other musicians regularly comment and have questions about my gear.
The professional & mature way to play music........
And this describes how much amp anyone should ever need. Problem is when you have to play with a drummer who is a banger and used ball bats for sticks.
I go one step farther... I carry the capability to play over the drummer. So on the rare occasions that I have to play the MAD card, it's nice to know that a big dose of calm down is an earplugs insert and volume bump away.
No doubt it's frustrating to watch a guy banging with you with no extra effort. And a ridiculously small rig. The Mouse that roared.
MAD = Mutually Assured Destructiion... we play so loud we both get fired.
:/
I've used that approach in the past - for about 6 years, I gigged in a loud 2 guitar rock band - with 2 Mesa halfstacks and a loud drummer... Back then, I used an M-pulse 600 and PH810 - and would occasionally remind them that I had 600 watts, 8 tens, and ear plugs, lol... Honestly, I don't miss those days...
Yup - I don't stay in bands that insist on having volume wars
Yeah, I do my best to avoid playing in those situations any more...
I normally do that too unless someone is playing so soft it's ridiculous. A few weeks ago I went to a jam I go to and sub at here and there. The jam got loud and the drummer who wears ear plugs and can't judge his volume and is basically detached from what is going one because of them was playing so soft I could hardly hear him. He's a nice guy but is one of these guys who runs a jam somewhere or other and always complains if players get too loud so I was hesitant to ask him to play louder but I finally did and he looked at me and said OK and right at the same time the house bass player who's also a good amateur drummer came up and relieved him. It then got even too loud for me but them's the breaks, I blasted along with everyone else. I hate playing too loud as much as i hate playing too soft and I really hate playing with people who wear ear plugs because half the time they're too loud and the other half they're too soft.
Double up your small rig and tell me it doesn't sound better.
Always?
Funny stuff... but you know you're speaking in absolutes so...
Granted, some folks are going to live in the past and that's cool. No need for them to check out new approaches. I put my rig up against bigger ones quite frequently. If I thought a big rig sounded better I'd use one. Instead, my rig sounds exactly like I want. So even on gigs where backline is provided, I chose what sounds better to me in the mix. And I only carry one small cab for any gigs I do.
If I had backline and roadies provided for every gig I do free of charge, I'd have them bring what I carry.
But why do you have to play with said drummer?
....and yes I have enough watts but playing quieter and quieter can have an embarrassing effect on the loud ones. Try it, it works. Soon the rest of the band is asking the offender to turn down.
I play with musicians who play drums, not drummers. That seems to fix that problem.
Volume wars! I think we have all been in them at some point and if you haven't yet, you probably will be. The ones I've been in usually start with too much beer and end with blown speakers. But, those were the bad old days.
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