• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

How many watts does your guitarist need

C

Cory rich40

Apr 10, 2021
1,264
1,581
#1
I know, it’s a bass forum. For years, our gospel group has consisted of a lead guitar player, a rhythm guitar player that is the main singer, the bass player who is me, and various other singers throughout the years and an occasional drummer. The guitar player got a fender tone master deluxe reverb amp around Christmas of last year. He also has an ultimate chorus amp and a Princeton reverb amp. He favors the deluxe reverb though. Recently he has been wanting our lead singer to go electric and let him use the ultimate chorus amp and use one of his telecasters. The lead singer has used acoustic all these years. The guitarist is wanting to really turn his volume up as close to its full potential as much as he can get away with and thinks with the lead singer going electric it can really transform our sound. I’m not worried about my sound and being drowned out or anything, but I’ve done my research. My concern is that the ultimate chorus will drown out the deluxe reverb, and the singer is a far weaker guitar player. Sometimes I wonder if the guitarist should have gotten the tonemaster twin reverb amp. He doesn’t take his Princeton out, and I think the reason is because it is a collector’s item. It is a limited edition amp. Any advice for our group as far as this goes?
 
#2
A Fender Twin Reverb can kill everyone in the first ten rows. Hands down, for nightclub work, the best guitar amps I have seen are tube amps making perhaps 20-30 watts and using one 12" speaker. These amps are the size of a small suitcase. The musician can drive those tubes to distortion without killing anybody.

Bass players need to bring WAY more watts and also more speaker surface area. Still, a 100-watt amp like a V4B can get the job done with different total speaker cone areas depending on how loud the rest of the band (drummer) is. Lots of us like to bring 800W amps, which is great, but they are not twice as loud as a 100W amp. Technically speaking.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrLenny1, covermego, noahw1 and 13 others
#3
The ultimate chorus is 65 watts from a casual search, and the TM DR is 22 watts. If they went head to head and just dimed the volumes, the Ultimate Chorus would bury the Tone Master. That being said, there's no reason for the guitar player to need the singer to have that many watts. Have the singer, if he wants, invest in the same amp as the lead player. That way there's always going to be balance in the tone and volume.
 
#6
Kaa said:
The ultimate chorus is 65 watts from a casual search, and the TM DR is 22 watts. If they went head to head and just dimed the volumes, the Ultimate Chorus would bury the Tone Master. That being said, there's no reason for the guitar player to need the singer to have that many watts. Have the singer, if he wants, invest in the same amp as the lead player. That way there's always going to be balance in the tone and volume.
Click to expand...
The singer doesn’t really have the money to buy an amp. The ultimate chorus is older than the deluxe reverb and that’s why the guitarist wants him to use that amp in particular. Right now this is just in talks and an experiment. I agree with you completely. I’m thinking with the equipment the guitar player has, it would make more since to pair the Princeton and the deluxe reverb together. But that’s not going to happen. He treats the Princeton like it’s almost a holy relic. Ok, the lead guitarist is my dad and I got the deluxe reverb for him as a Christmas present last year. I can never repay him for all the stuff he has done for me over the years. But do you think he might be happier with the twin reverb? The tone master version of course because it’s lightweight
 
#7
12w. 1956 Fender Deluxe.

rsz_1956_deluxe_tele_palo.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: WillyW, John M Ewers, Hot Rats and 12 others
#8
Old Fart said:
A Fender Twin Reverb can kill everyone in the first ten rows. Hands down, for nightclub work, the best guitar amps I have seen are tube amps making perhaps 20-30 watts and using one 12" speaker. These amps are the size of a small suitcase. The musician can drive those tubes to distortion without killing anybody.

Bass players need to bring WAY more watts and also more speaker surface area. Still, a 100-watt amp like a V4B can get the job done with different total speaker cone areas depending on how loud the rest of the band (drummer) is. Lots of us like to bring 800W amps, which is great, but they are not twice as loud as a 100W amp. Technically speaking.
Click to expand...
Trust me when I say, I’ve got my end covered if they do decide to turn the volume up
 
  • Like
Reactions: rickdog
#9
Cory rich40 said:
The singer doesn’t really have the money to buy an amp.
Click to expand...

Seems to me that the easiest solution is to try it out and see if it works, before considering options that would cost money anyway. Obviously neither of these guitar amps is going to be dimed, so odds are they will be able to match volume well enough unless the more powerful amp is so powerful that it can't get a useable sound at a low enough volume to match the other (which admittedly can happen, although it is generally more an issue with big tube amps).
 
  • Like
Reactions: TyBo and JohnnyChatter
#10
Cory rich40 said:
The singer doesn’t really have the money to buy an amp. The ultimate chorus is older than the deluxe reverb and that’s why the guitarist wants him to use that amp in particular. Right now this is just in talks and an experiment. I agree with you completely. I’m thinking with the equipment the guitar player has, it would make more since to pair the Princeton and the deluxe reverb together. But that’s not going to happen. He treats the Princeton like it’s almost a holy relic. Ok, the lead guitarist is my dad and I got the deluxe reverb for him as a Christmas present last year. I can never repay him for all the stuff he has done for me over the years. But do you think he might be happier with the twin reverb? The tone master version of course because it’s lightweight
Click to expand...
As long as they don't get into volume wars, then, go for it. As for the volume, that DR wide open will be loud as all get out. And as far as I know, gospel isn't known for it's blasting volume.

I would ask another question: what's your dad's goal with this? More leads? "Better" tone for a loud amp?
 
#14
Kaa said:
As long as they don't get into volume wars, then, go for it. As for the volume, that DR wide open will be loud as all get out. And as far as I know, gospel isn't known for it's blasting volume.

I would ask another question: what's your dad's goal with this? More leads? "Better" tone for a loud amp?
Click to expand...
Better tone. He wants to see what it can do. In his research he has possibly found the louder that amp is cranked the better it may sound
 
#17
We typically play bars up up about 100 people and occasionally get to play a bigger club or outdoor festivals. Our guitar player will usually be mic'd at the bigger clubs or outdoors, but in our typical setting he isn't mic'd and he has no trouble bringing heard. He has a few different 15-20W combos that he uses. With those amps he can control his volume and still get great tone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marko 1, rodl2005, pbass2 and 1 other person
#18
Cory rich40 said:
I know, it’s a bass forum. For years, our gospel group has consisted of a lead guitar player, a rhythm guitar player that is the main singer, the bass player who is me, and various other singers throughout the years and an occasional drummer. The guitar player got a fender tone master deluxe reverb amp around Christmas of last year. He also has an ultimate chorus amp and a Princeton reverb amp. He favors the deluxe reverb though. Recently he has been wanting our lead singer to go electric and let him use the ultimate chorus amp and use one of his telecasters. The lead singer has used acoustic all these years. The guitarist is wanting to really turn his volume up as close to its full potential as much as he can get away with and thinks with the lead singer going electric it can really transform our sound. I’m not worried about my sound and being drowned out or anything, but I’ve done my research. My concern is that the ultimate chorus will drown out the deluxe reverb, and the singer is a far weaker guitar player. Sometimes I wonder if the guitarist should have gotten the tonemaster twin reverb amp. He doesn’t take his Princeton out, and I think the reason is because it is a collector’s item. It is a limited edition amp. Any advice for our group as far as this goes?
Click to expand...
Rule 1. Guitarists get what they want.
Rule 2. Everyone else fits in with Rule 1.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UnderTheStairs and timmus
#19
Dad has always wanted to find another guitar that was up to his level. Playing secular music was never a problem. There was always someone wanting to play. Dad likes to play more complex music and our singer can’t hit those minor chords and won’t practice to be able to do it. I’m not lying when I say I can hear him hit wrong notes when he is strumming his acoustic. But he isn’t horrible and is the best we have played with in 20 years. He is definitely a good singer.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back