How big should I go? 100w vs 500w

[hbarcat]

I recently ditched my high powered amps for more smaller class D amps for gigs and am very satisfied.

Main amp is a Mesa D-350 (350 watts) while backup is a Traynor 200H (200 watts). I have two 8 Ohm 1x15's and I'll use both if playing a larger venue, but only bring one cab for smaller venues.

Fortunately, we play at modest stage volume, with or without PA support. We did a show a few weeks ago in a local bar for a crowd of about 50 and the Traynor with a single 15" cab was adequate to the task, although I was pushing about 80% on the master volume.

Just this past weekend we played a larger VFW hall and I used the Mesa and both cabs. The amp was loafing at 25% volume so a rough guess would be that I was using less than 150 watts of its power. Having two cabs totaling 4 Ohms together makes an enormous difference in volume.

 

[Isaac_James]

Thanks. It will either be rumble 500 or rocketbass 500. Will go to GC to check them out and see what I like best.

If I like the rumble more, I'll look into the 800 as well. I just have a bias towards Ampeg i guess.

I'm in the same boat - I generally prefer the Ampeg sound over the Fender. I tried both at a shop and found the rumble to be fine, if uninteresting. Ampeg was just more up my alley. Also if you plan to use the integrated OD on the amp itself the Ampeg's SGT is generally regarded to be a lot better than the OD circuit on Fender Rumble amps.

But do try for yourself - you might find you prefer the Fender after all! Personal taste is funny like that.

 

[Lucas Carioli]

The speaker blow, when the speaker blow. If it blows when you blast a 100 watt amp to the max, what makes you think that a 250 or 500 watt amp won't make the speaker blow, once they put the first 100 watts?

Because it happened to me already.

 

[HowieD72]

I used Chromes for a while, but rounds work better for what I’m doing now, so it’s DR Nickle Lo-Riders. I’m sure there are stiffer strings out there, but they’re pretty good. I used to hate zingy, now I hate floppy.

Yep. DR Lo-Rider Nickels are what i use. I like stiff strings too and found them pretty good after trialling several. I have read Warwick Black Labels are stiff, so i've ordered a set to trial. If they are stiffer and sound as good as the Lo-Riders, i'll roll with them.

 

[HowieD72]

Yep. DR Lo-Rider Nickels are what i use. I like stiff strings too and found them pretty good after trialling several. I have read Warwick Black Labels are stiff, so i've ordered a set to trial. If they are stiffer and sound as good as the Lo-Riders, i'll roll with them.

Only because the Warwicks are cheaper here in NZ then the DR Lo Riders.

 

[brisonic]

Don't fool around.View attachment 5027618

the old peavey 1820 IIRC is a cab I like.

 

[brisonic]

If your dead set on Ampeg get this

The overdrive there was good; no tapping or harmonics?

 

[Dust2Dust]

The overdrive there was good; no tapping or harmonics?

That's not my channel or video.
I just knew the video existed so I posted it here because the amp sounds good to me and it was in the category that OP was looking at.
I'm still in the beginner group, so what do I know

 

[woody357]

Nothing less than 500 watts. That’s not so much just to be loud but for clean sound when you turn up

 

[chris_b]

How big should I go?

The answer is how big do you need to go.

Watts are cheap. Going from 25 watts to 100 watts might look like a big jump but it isn't. You don't want to run any amp flat out. It will sound bad.

IMO getting the best sound in a gigging band needs a minimum of a 500 watt amp and as many speakers as you need. I use 1 or 2 Barefaced 112's and, from a whisper to a roar, they sound great. Run a 500 watt amp at half volume into an 8 ohm cab will you'll be putting out approx 125 watts. Good luck with trying to get 125 clean watts out of a 200 watt amp. It won't work.

Using FOH totally changes everything.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

Hey guys,

I currently play a fender rumble 25w which gets plenty loud to play at home.

I recently got in a band and they have a rehearsal room with real drums and all. I know my 25w amp won't keep up.

Thinking of upgrading to an Ampeg Rocket bass to use in rehearsal and hopefully when we play live too in some random bars in the future.

We play punk and metal. My previous band where I played drums, the bass player had a rumble 100 and did pretty good in rehearsal and live with it.

Question: should I go for the 100w Ampeg RB or should I splurge for the 500w? It's not really about the money, but more the comfort of moving it around. I know a lot will say bigger is better, but figured someone might have good insight.
Appreciate your thoughts!!

Well...it can depend on how your being mixed. I could hardly hear the Bass in Metallica?

If your Bass is dirty and using a pick and your guitar players aren't playing Triple-Rec stacks, but perhaps any number of 40-90'ish watt amps, you can get away with 100 watt Bass amp. PA even easier with a DI/mic on the cabinet.

I've been showing how I'm rolling these days between no cabs on stage with IEM, reasonable PA support and avoiding anything that resembles a coliseum gig that wouldn't have a backline, anyway. (Not really having those problems these days.) I'm focusing on small atmosphere projects and Americana that pays with dudes who have mastered the volume control!

100 watts (A/B), 1x15" & Tidy Board/DI

(I also grabbed a great deal on Orange B-stock (as New, really) units @ $650 (head/cabinet) + my pedals)

Good luck!

 

[monti2889]

For playing bass in a band/live....your available clean headroom is quite important. You're going to want somewhere between 300-1000w (paired with speaker cabs to get the most efficiency of the amp), to have enough power to be heard on stage and still keep a clean tone. I would suggest the 500w that will be quite versatile for you and have enough headroom to use in small-medium sized venues with little pa support. There's nothing wrong with going smaller...but you'll be dependent on pa support.

 

[Gonzalo Sanchez]

Just an update to close the thread. I got an Ampeg pf410 cab that can handle 800w. Now I will need a matching head. Prob a pf500, pf800 or a mesa d800