Agreed.
To me, no amp at the edge of its ability sounds good. That whole headroom thing, IMHO.
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To me, no amp at the edge of its ability sounds good. That whole headroom thing, IMHO.
I agree with this, unless that edgy breakup is what you actually want. But even then, I prefer to use FX for that and still save some headroom. My band experience pushed me from a 150W to a 250W, then both combined. But the R500c standalone, at just 350W, replaced both those for my purposes.
But, after retirement and moving to a more rural area, the Rumble Studio 40 became my #1 for jams and gigs with lots of acoustic instruments! It's been plenty of headroom for up to two dozen acoustic stringed instruments for the last seven years!!
40W is fine, especially for a practice amp. With a band, it totally depends on the situation. And the user is happy, other than the noise, so spending extra money for more wattage isn't necessary at this time.
Agreed, G-Dog. I have no doubt experience has taught folks well about what they prefer, and I am certainly not discounting that. My R500c and 800c have plenty of volume and headroom. I run a compressor and preamp before the input, and the level is above unity (over bass plugged straight in) -gain at 10am and master at approximately the same. No struggle for the amp at all. I also have an old EV 1200 power amp that I was using with a couple of Warwick cabs - and it would definitely push air, but I am more than happy with the combo for practice and combo + cab for shows. We all have our preferences, and certainly one-size-does-not-fit-all!
Agreed for most SS amps. Tube amps are different but it also depends on the styles of music you play.
Different situations, I s'pose. We/I never have a backline or FOH-venues around here don't even have PA's. We provide everything but the electricity, which means we have downsized as much as possible since it's us that has to schlep our 'stuff' in/out just b4 start time(no load in early). After playing, we are "encouraged" to pack up ASAP 'cos the staff wants to close up and go home. Also, our target audience-and venue management-doesn't want LOUD.
Same boat here. We haul, setup, play, load out all ourselves. And everyone's situation is different. We have guitar/bass/cajon and all 3 singing so onstage monitoring with is easy, low volume. I used my Rumble 100 for a few years and it was more than enough for a stage monitor with DI to FOH.
And I recently picked a Line 6 Lowdown 110 that's 75 watts. About the same weight as the Rumble but it has presets and saves some space. More than enough.
And your rig/FOH sounds excellent having heard it in person.
Of course I'm more inclined to play lower volume gigs these days anyway. Over the last 50 years of gigging, I am thrilled to no longer need an unreasonably large or heavy personal rig or the Grateful Dead wall of sound for a PA.
Thank you sir. I often wonder if my sound skills are up to par. I've been very happy with that amp though. Afraid if it ever bites the dust I'm out of luck. Probably time to shop for another one.
I also do not miss hauling refrigerator size speakers, power amps that weigh a ton, hauling a trailer. No thank you.
Yes, your tone is great. I use a Zoom B1X for my tone, with my favorites saved as presets and my Rumble(s) 100 combos are strictly for volume. That way my tone isn't dependent on the combo(s) themselves and the multi-effects/modeler easily replaced if needed.
I get what you're saying. I've just never been a pedal guy. Every one I've ever bought had a short shelf life of futzing with it, and selling it.Yes, your tone is great. I use a Zoom B1X for my tone, with my favorites saved as presets and my Rumble(s) 100 combos are strictly for volume. That way my tone isn't dependent on the combo(s) themselves and the multi-effects/modeler easily replaced if needed.
My "pedal board" has my wireless receiver, tuner, controller for lights and EQ. There's a sub N up pedal but I couldn't tell you the last time I've used it. Just haven't taken the time to remove it yet.
I tried 2 different versions of Sansamp, couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be getting out of those either. Gone. I'm just a simple person I guess.
I'm getting the same with my used 500c, through speakers and headphones. Mine sometimes loses volume as well for a while with additional static, does that happen to you? I also have the problem with the return jack static, but I'm getting this noise even when I have my Zoom running through the send / receive path. I'm hesitant to take it to a repair person as that'll cost almost as much as I paid for the Rumble. Thoughts anyone?
Before they decided to run my bass through the PA, I almost always took 2xR100 daisy-chained, but it was for tone. One amp was enough in almost all my situations. Now that I go DI->PA, I just take one R100 as a monitor. It's usually set pretty low volume.
I would love a chance to play through the real Wall of Sound, but it's long gone. Alas.
My hearing's shot enuff w/o doing that.
I'm not much of a Grateful Dead fan. But I was always impressed with the microphone placements that they worked out to eliminate vocal mic feedback even when they were standing in front of that giant pile of speakers.
Once long ago we used Fender Expo arrays and found we could put them behind us the same way. No idea how that worked but it was very nice to monitor sound as we played and no monitor feedback.
Gig Report:
Last night I played a church social dinner for older congregants. But the young-ish preacher brought his 5 young kids and some other young kids helped serve and clean up. Approx. 60'x80' Fellowship Hall with 15' ceiling about half-filled with 60-70 people at big round tables seating 6-8 comfortably.
2 amped A/E guitars, 1 amped fiddle (State Champion playing) and me with my short-scale BEAD7ender Starcaster semi-hollow direct into my 7ender Rumble Studio 40 using a thumpy, hollow "Acoustic Upright" preset downloaded from the 7ender Tone App community. Both guitarists, a lady vocalist, and I singing various parts of the hymns and gospel songs using a single mic. I usually play smaller rooms with the Rumble Volume at ~25% and the bass's Atomic Humbuckers at ~80% when I'm the only amped instrument. But I started this gig with the Rumble at ~50% and the bass at ~45% to start to allow for extra headroom if needed to keep up with the 3 other amps in the bigger room.
Rehearsal beforehand: none whatsoever!!
But we have all previously performed in various other venues & jams with other people to inconsistent results. I'm the youngest of this group and the oldest sometimes seems to fall asleep mid-song even when singing lead! 
I was hoping for the best, but expecting some large amount of awkwardness!!
We musicians ate first and started playing right after our dessert while others continued eating. The oldest guitarist sang the first song, but my prayers were answered when he really put some pep into it! The other songs were also surprisingly lively and I really got into it myself!! Midway through, the pastor made a joke about "dancing Baptists" that got a big laugh, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see some! It was a fun time for all! I even took the high harmony on "I'll Fly Away", rather loudly since all four of us were singing and I was farthest from the mic, to the pleasant shock of the lead singing guitarist. And of course, the fiddler stole the show on every song! And I didn't have to adjust my trusty li'l Rumble's volume or tone at all the whole time!! This was, by far, the best performance I've shared with these guys & gal! I do SO love to ... ... ...
Last night I played a church social dinner for older congregants. But the young-ish preacher brought his 5 young kids and some other young kids helped serve and clean up. Approx. 60'x80' Fellowship Hall with 15' ceiling about half-filled with 60-70 people at big round tables seating 6-8 comfortably.
2 amped A/E guitars, 1 amped fiddle (State Champion playing) and me with my short-scale BEAD
Rehearsal beforehand: none whatsoever!!
But we have all previously performed in various other venues & jams with other people to inconsistent results. I'm the youngest of this group and the oldest sometimes seems to fall asleep mid-song even when singing lead! I was hoping for the best, but expecting some large amount of awkwardness!!We musicians ate first and started playing right after our dessert while others continued eating. The oldest guitarist sang the first song, but my prayers were answered when he really put some pep into it! The other songs were also surprisingly lively and I really got into it myself!! Midway through, the pastor made a joke about "dancing Baptists" that got a big laugh, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see some! It was a fun time for all! I even took the high harmony on "I'll Fly Away", rather loudly since all four of us were singing and I was farthest from the mic, to the pleasant shock of the lead singing guitarist. And of course, the fiddler stole the show on every song! And I didn't have to adjust my trusty li'l Rumble's volume or tone at all the whole time!! This was, by far, the best performance I've shared with these guys & gal! I do SO love to ... ... ...
Rumble On!
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For most of our relatively recent gigs, we've been using my JBL EON One, set up between me and the drummer. With the 180 degree dispersion, we hear exactly what the audience hears w/o needing monitors. Our 4 vocal mics go into the Yamahahaha powered mixer and a line out goes to the EON One.
Or in this case, off to one side.
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