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How many watts do I need?

pcon

pcon

Nov 8, 2009
31
0
San Diego, CA
#1
Hey Guys,

I went to Guitar Center the other day and tried out EVERY SINGLE AMP they had there. I loved the sound from the Gallien Kruger amps and immediately fell in love with them.

Now the next step is getting the right size amp. I want to use this amp for practice and also bring it along for practice. Although my band hasn't gigged yet, we play to gig in small clubs, house parties (in the back yards), and with the rare occasion of doing a big gig (like a local innercity music festival).

For practice my guitarists use these 65 watt Fender amps and when they gig with them, they daisy chain them to another 65 watt fender amp. So they're both in stereo. For bigger gigs, my lead guitarist will whip out his 100 watt marshall half stack.

My question is, now many watts should I look for for a new bass amp? Any help would be appreciated.

- Philippe
 
#2
How many speakers are you going to be using? If you were to only use a 1x15 inch speaker you would want to look at getting more power than you might need if you had an 8x10 setup, for example.

It's always a hard one to answer because we can't really give you a definate answer, there are so many factors.

If you are using a 1x15 or a 4x10, a ~500 watt amp should be more than sufficient, but then again, it depends on what kind of music you are playing, how you all EQ etc. You can always get a larger amp than you need and just make sure to control the volume.

Used to gig fairly regularly (and loudly) with two guitarists who were using JCM900 & JCM800 half stacks (Marshall 100 watt tube heads into 4x12s) and I was getting by fine with my SVT-II and 8x10 (300 watt tube head). Also played for long enough using a Peavey Firebass (450 watts at 4ohms) into a 4ohm 4x10.
 
#3
For those situations, I always recommend a few hundred watts. In other words, your in a very typical situation. An extra couple hundred watts will not only set you up for the future, but give you nice clean headroom to benefit from immediately.
 
#4
Anything in the 300 or so wattage range will be fine. What you will need to keep up is a cabinet with enough speaker area.

Look at it this way. 200 watts through a 210 cab will push that cab to its limits. 1,000 through that same cab wont make it any louder, it will just bust your speakers up. Also, the wattage rating on speaker cabs have nothing to do with how much power they can actually handle in the frequency range you will be playing in. So forget what cabs are rated for, and use enough cab for how loud you want to be.

Your budget will really narrow down what cab to look for. I would say you need a 410 at minimum, and would say a 412, 610, or 810 are better choices if your guitards are loud (you might also want to tell them that they dont need more than 65 watt combos as far as volume goes).

For my money I would look at a fEarful 1212/6. It will handle just about any amp you put on it with out pause, and sound great doing it.
 
#5
3







Really it depends on your speakers, they'll get louder then watts will. From the GK line, the 800rb, 700rb, or mb500 will all have plenty of power for any gig. The mb200 is likely enough for a lot of people.

And your guitards need to leave their extra amps at home.
 
#7
I play in a modern folk rock band. So think along the lines of Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz.

The one thing that was interesting was I played a MB200 though a 4x10 cabinet at guitar center it was LOUD. Although, it was in their little bass guitar room, so perhaps it just sounded louder than it really was.
 
#8
IMO as many watts as you can afford. And there is never too much.
The more watts you have the cleaner the sound and the more headroom you have.

I'd probably not go smaller than 300watts. The big thing is you need to be able to hear yourself in practice and on stage, then hopefully, you can use a DI to be heard playing out through the PA.
 
#9
You've got a wide range of "needs" there - everything from solo practice to band practice to small clubs to outside parties to even big stage events. If it were me, I would consider a 300 watt at 8 ohms amp with a 1x15 8 ohm cab - maybe as a combo if you needed to save some money, otherwise as separates. This should work for most of your needs. If/when you need more sound, adding a second 1x15 cab would bump your amps output to 500 watts (at 4 ohms) and push twice the amount of air.

For practicality sake, make sure you get an amp or combo that will allow a second cab, and get one with an XLR direct out so you won't need to buy a DI box to send a clean signal to the PA. You should plan on going thru the PA whenever possible, especially when on a big stage or outside - because what you hear standing on stage won't be very much like what the back of the audience hears.
 
#10
pcon said:
I play in a modern folk rock band. So think along the lines of Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz.

The one thing that was interesting was I played a MB200 though a 4x10 cabinet at guitar center it was LOUD. Although, it was in their little bass guitar room, so perhaps it just sounded louder than it really was.
Click to expand...

That little 200 watt amp sounds huge in a small room, but I predict it will disappear outdoors. I suggest at least 500 watts, and at least a 2 X 12" cabinet. Like I always say, "Don't show up to a gun fight with a butter knife".
 
#13
Good advice so far.

I have a 500W amp with a 2x12, and I've never turned up more than half way. Granted, I'm not playing festivals or arenas, but at those types of places, you generally have PA support.

I would echo to buy as many watts as you can afford, getting at least 300. Also, if you weren't already planning on it, BUY USED!!!! I pieced together my rig on the TB classifieds page and got a great deal, and couldn't be happier.
 
#16
will33 said:
And your guitards need to leave their extra amps at home.
Click to expand...

+1000!

Especially if you are playing folk-rock stuff like Jason Mraz (badass chops and great songwriter BTW!)

500 Watts is plenty sufficient so long as you can keep your "Guitards" (love that term!) in check. That is more than sufficient to drive one or two 4 x 10 (or one 4 x 10 and one 1 x 15 or...) cabinets and if you need to get any louder than that, run an XLR out to the PA and let your sound guy take care of the rest!
 
#17
pcon said:
...we play to gig in small clubs, house parties (in the back yards), and with the rare occasion of doing a big gig (like a local inner city music festival).

...my guitarists use these 65 watt Fender amps and when they gig...they daisy chain them to another 65 watt fender amp....For bigger gigs, my lead guitarist will whip out his 100 watt marshall half stack.

My question is, now many watts should I look for in a new bass amp?...
Click to expand...

will33 said:
Really it depends on your speakers...
And your guitarists need to leave their extra amps at home.
Click to expand...

+1
You need to be heard over two guitarists using something like a total of 250 watts and maybe as many as 6x12s max. Good Grief. OK.
You will need a minimum of 1000 watts and either 610s, 2x410s, or 412 of very high quality cabs. Or get the volume under control. :scowl:
 
#19
Yeah, like I said, I'm in a modern folk rock band. We don't play super loud, but I would like the extra headroom just in case.

Jim Carr said:
+1
You need to be heard over two guitarists using something like a total of 250 watts and maybe as many as 6x12s max. Good Grief. OK.
You will need a minimum of 1000 watts and either 610s, 2x410s, or 412 of very high quality cabs. Or get the volume under control. :scowl:
Click to expand...
 

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