how many watts is enough??

[Herb_me420]

i'l be playing small gigs this summer, and am just curious if 75 watts is enough power... they prolly wont be any big gigs, majority jsut playing a tparties since i live in small town.

 

[guy n. cognito]

Prepare for pages of debate on "enough" wattage. I would think that 75 won't be enough to keep up with a drummer and guitarist, unless you are playing acoustic gigs and your drummer is using fans.

I consider 250 my minimum for small to medium sized venues.

 

[nad]

300 always makes a good starting place, but the more the merrier because it's a lot easier to turn down than turn up.

 

[Skel]

In my opinion you will have just enough power for small gigs. If you have a PA system, which I would assume you do - you can do the obvious and either run your D.I. out into your mixing desk or if you don't have a line out, you can mic your little amp with something like a Shure SM57 (or just about any old mic will do).

 

[Herb_me420]

damm lol , i dont kno for sure how many watts mine is since its used.. all i kno is it says 120 watts, 60 hz, and then 200 watts underneath the both of those on the back...but i was told by someone else that means something different, and that it's probably only 75 watts..

p.s i love how you get replys so quick i posted this thread like 4 mins ago

 

[vindy500]

i have never understood this watts things, i play with a 60W vox amp and can be heard quite happily over a full drum kit at about half volume

 

[EricF]

As answered in your other thread, the 120/60/200 thing has to do with the amp's power consumption, not it's power output.

75 watts, or anything close to that, probably isn't going to be enough to be heard past even a moderate a drummer, let alone a guitar or 2. If you can count on PA support, then you might be okay. As mentioned above, 250-300 watts is a good place to start for a realistic gig/rehersal amp that will get you heard.

 

[Herb_me420]

Prepare for pages of debate on "enough" wattage. I would think that 75 won't be enough to keep up with a drummer and guitarist, unless you are playing acoustic gigs and your drummer is using fans.

I consider 250 my minimum for small to medium sized venues.

we should probably jsut stop this thread now before it turns outinto pages.. i think i got the idea already

 

[Masher88]

Should do a search on this topic. There's about 60 pages worth of opinions on it

 

[ryco]

One of the few cases in life where "more is better". 400+. You can always turn down. two cents and peace!

 

[Matthew Bryson]

majority just playing at parties since i live in small town.

So, no PA support. I'm feeling a little ornery today, so I'm going against the grain yet again.

How many watts do you need? You only NEED enough watts to match your volume to the drummer. Everybody else can turn down.

I think your Peavey TKO combo will be plenty loud to rehearse with a band and play house parties and things like that. In doing that a few times, you'll be able to figure out whether you need more power or not.


FWIW - My brother used to practice with his band and even played a few small gigs and never used anything but an 80 watt Peavey TKO - and he seemed to get by just fine.

 

[Stubb]

I got by just fine with 150 watts into 1x15, but GK amps are sort of "mid-forward," so they cut through a little better.

 

[HELLonWHEELS]

I asked that same question and here is the link

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=247090

 

[PinkTelephone]

200 all tube watts coming from an Orange AD200B MK3 is just fine....

 

[steamthief]

As many as you can afford!

 

[Crescent Seven]

I don't think anything less than 2000w is worth your time.

I waste ALOT of my time, apparently it ain't worth much.

Seriously, though, 300w is going to get you going with efficient cabs and a liberal volume hand.
C7

 

[MarkMyWordsXx]

dunno if anyone mentioned this, it has alot to do with acoustics of the room. i use a 200w amp for practice with a band and sometimes i need it up to 10 and sometimes its on 5 depending on where the amps are.

but it also depoends on what kind of band you have. ive seen metal bassists play 100w combos and be nonexistant but ive seen punk players use 50w crates and be fine.

it ALSO depends on your drummers volume because you cant turn down drums. though that would be nice..

 

[Luke73]

It really depends whose watts your talking about.

For example,

I've been an Ashdown user for a while. I have an Ashdown Mag300 head.

I recently decided to upgrade it for various reasons.

I tried a number of amp heads from:

Ampeg, SWR, Eden, Warwick, Gallien Krueger, MarkBass, Ashdown...

To say that there is a vast discrepancy between the power output of heads from all of these manufacturers given similar wattage ratings is an understatement!

The GK (700RB-II) head I bought has a significant degree more power than any of the amps I tested from the above manufacturers (I bought it for reasons other than power alone, but headroom is nice).

The quietest by far was the Warwick Pro FET 5.1 head (supposedly 500w). Very nice tone - but disapointing output. Not even as much volume as my Mag300 head. It was a pity, 'cause I like the head quite alot. Very nice tone indeed.

The 480w GK 700RB-II was even louder than some 700+w heads. It's tone is outstanding. Warm, rich and full of clarity with headroom to burn.

...so - it doesn't all come down to watts after all.

 

[seanm]

It really depends whose watts your talking about.

+1 We jam in a basement once a week. With my iAMP500 into an 8 ohm cab I would run it at 1/2 at most. The iAMP500 is 350W @ 8 ohms.

Bought a Behringer EP1500 power amp so I would not have to leave the iAMP in the back of the truck. I tried different preamps but with the preamp cranked and power amp maxed out I could not quite keep up. This is supposedly 800W bridged @ 8 ohm.

Bought an Acoustic 370. About 370W @ 2 ohms, so maybe 160W or so @ 8 ohms? Volume at 1/2 is too loud.

This is all in the same place with the same cab with the same guys.

 

[paulraphael]

SHow many watts do you need? You only NEED enough watts to match your volume to the drummer. Everybody else can turn down.

Guitar players can turn down?

The guitarists I've played with all have those amps with the knobs that can only be adjusted up.

I just assumed it was a rotation of the earth thing ... maybe in the southern hemisphere they can turn down.