How much wattage do I need for band practice?

[TheMantis]

I’m looking to put a band together. Which means I’ll be travelling to rehearsal spots and jamming with other musicians. Which is something I don’t have much experience with.

How much amp wattage do I actually need to keep up with an acoustic drum kit and other instruments? I’d like to get something a little more portable than my half cab that I could manage a little easier for practice. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Plectrum72]

Completely depends on your cab or cabs and how hard the drummer hits. Without knowing details like this or genre, I'd suggest 300-500 watts minimum. However, with enough speakers or very efficient speakers it can easily be done with as little as 100 watts.

 

[Nuisance]

Unless you are using a pathetic cab (or one with a super low wattage rating), 300 - 500 watts should be all you ever need (even for most gigging situations).

 

[TheMantis]

Completely depends on your cab or cabs and how hard the drummer hits. Without knowing details like this or genre, I'd suggest 300-500 watts minimum. However, with enough speakers or very efficient speakers it can easily be done with as little as 100 watts.

I’ll be playing stuff in the neighbourhood of Punk Rock. So the drummer will be playing relatively hard. So I’m assuming I won’t be able to get by with, like, a 60 watt 1x10 or similar and should be looking at 210s? My budget is limited so I’ve been combing the second hand market.

 

[Nuisance]

A 60 watt 1x10 will likely be insufficient to run with a loud drummer.

The cab will be more important than the amp.

I recommend a 2x10, or 2x12 with sufficient power rating. 4x10 would be even better. Heck even a good 1x15 would be OK.

For an amp I wouldn't go with less than 200 watts.

If you are on a limited budget look for some old school heavier gear that sells for much cheaper. Trace Elliot, SWR, Peavey etc. You don't need lightweight NEO cabs and class D amps to rehearse with. Once you start gigging you can upgrade to lighter, more powerful (and more expensive) gear.

 

[Nuisance]

Also, you won't find many deals on Reverb. IMHO you are better off scanning Craigslist or FB Marketplace if you want a killer deal on old gear.

 

[Oddly]

A 60w 1x10 definitely won't cope with a hard-hitting drummer...and I'll assume at least one guitarist will be involved, so that's another battle for you, unless you get real lucky and find guys who can play at a reasonable level.
If you're using rehearsal rooms, they may have a PA system built in that you could run bass through but yeah, you will eventually need something decent.
I've got by nicely the last few years in various bands with a 200w 1x12 GK combo, but I've gotten older and crankier about others keeping the noise levels down and I've not been shy about taking a stand on this.

 

[klokker]

I've played in many bands over the years and never needed anything more than a 1x15 and an amp with a couple of hundred watts for rehearsal. But a lot depends on your bandmates. You can have a ton of power and speakers and still not be able to hear yourself if you don't know anything about sound, or get into volume wars.

But from what I can assume from your post, what has been suggested so far sounds about right for you.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I’m looking to put a band together. Which means I’ll be travelling to rehearsal spots and jamming with other musicians. Which is something I don’t have much experience with.

How much amp wattage do I actually need to keep up with an acoustic drum kit and other instruments? I’d like to get something a little more portable than my half cab that I could manage a little easier for practice. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

First thing, consider your amp and cab choices as one unit it working together for a specific result. The main point you should be asking is how many decibels do I need? And this starts with your choice of cab.

Why the cab first? The main reason is some cabs are more efficient than others. For instance one that is more efficient per watt, will create more decibles that a less efficient cab. And these differences are very noticable. So without knowing how efficient the cab is makes asking how many watts do I need a guess. So cabs come with efficiency ratings. Start here.

Just remember, there is nothing more frustration the showing up without the tools for the job at hand. Do not under buy what you need. There isn’t that big of a of a price difference to insure you aren’t in that situation.

OK, I’ve been doing this a long time, but if I were faced with the situation you described, where I have no clue if I’m going to play and animal of a drummer that uses telephone poles for drumsticks and or a guitarist with a 100 watt Marshall stack I’d want very efficient 112 cab or a one 115 cab 8 ohm cab that can handle 400-500 watts RMS, and an amp that can generate 300 watts. Something like will cover just about any situation your going to encounter. The other thing to consider, if this doesn’t work out there is a market for this level of capability if you decide to sell it.

Last thing, buy used gear. check out the classified here on Talkbass. Can’t find what your are looking for? Try Guitarcenter.com used gear. Used gear here comes with a 30day money back satisfaction guarantee. Extended warranties are available as well.

I hope this helps. Best wishes.

 

[gtirard]

I agree that the sensitivity of the cab is more important than the power of the amp. With the same band, my 70W PJB double 4 is not loud enough, whereas my 35 W Quilter Interbass is more than enough with a good 1x12 cab.

 

[Thumpin6string]

As has been stated above, 300-500 at the minimum IMHO. You can never have too much, but you can have too little.

 

[robert_stuart]

Music style? Final size of the band?

 

[Zooberwerx]

I’ll be playing stuff in the neighbourhood of Punk Rock. So the drummer will be playing relatively hard. So I’m assuming I won’t be able to get by with, like, a 60 watt 1x10 or similar and should be looking at 210s? My budget is limited so I’ve been combing the second hand market.

...and at gig volumes more than likely. Great.

As already suggested, 300-500 watts and an enclosure to carry the load: 2x12 or better. You lose the desired portability but I'm figuring you want to be heard. Look at the bright side: you'll have a back-up gig worthy rig which is never a bad idea.

What's your budget?

Riis

 

[hasbeen]

The amp you “need” is reliant upon your drummer and how much headroom you desire. I hat to say it, but others really can’t answer this for you.

 

[Wasnex]

Putting a loud drummer in a small space is a really good recipe for loud.

My first advice is wear some good protective ear plugs. It will sound awful, but if you don't protect your ears you will degrade your hearing and develop tinnitus.

Your asking the wrong question. You can't just go by how much power an amp can make. How loud a cab plays is a function of usable power and the sensitivity of the cab. With experience you can figure out approximately how much volume you need. Then you can use amplifier and cab specs to get in the ball park. The specs are not perfect because the industry has not standardized how specs are developed. So consider spec'ing a rig that is rated for a little bit more SPL than you need.


What you need:

• Usable Power--this is the lower value between how much power your amp can make and how much power your speaker can handle. If you have a 500W cab but your amp only makes 250W, then usable power is 250W.
• Sensitivity expressed as the SPL measure at 1 meter with 1 Watt applied.

Once you have this data you can use this formula:

Calculated SPL = 10Log(Usable Power) + Sensitivity​

For example if usable power is 250W and Sensitivity is 97dB 1W/1m

Calculated SPL = 10Log(250) + 97 = ~121dB

My personal minimum is a rig rated for at least 124dB. IME 124dB meets most, but not all of my needs. However, I am not willing to play very much louder than 124dB. My last touring rig was rated for about 127dB. It wasn't always loud enough, but I never turned it up to the point where the amp started clipping.

It's also useful to know what happens when you add a matching cab. Usually an extension cab will be connected in parallel with the first cab.

Results of Running a Pair of Matching Cabs In Parallel:

• Combined Impedance is 1/2
• Combined Power Handling is 2X
• Combined Sensitivity is +3dB.

Let's assume:

• Our amp makes 250W at 8 ohms and 500W at 4 ohms.
• Each speaker is 8 ohms and rated for 500W
• Sensitivity of each cab is 97dB 1W/1m

With two cabs:

• Impedance = 4 ohms
• Usable Power = 500W
• Sensitivity = 100dB 1W/1m
• Calculated SPL = 10Log(500) + 100 = ~127dB

With this example we get +3dB from increased sensitivity and another +3dB from doubling the usable power.

Compare to one cab with max SPL of ~121dB

 

[skycruiser]

Seems ridiculous to rehearse in an enclosed space with hundreds of watts. 100W combo can hang with drums just tell the bone headed guitarist to play at reasonable levels. It's just rehearsal after all. Save your ears too.

 

[Wasnex]

Seems ridiculous to rehearse in an enclosed space with hundreds of watts. 100W combo can hang with drums just tell the bone headed guitarist to play at reasonable levels. It's just rehearsal after all. Save your ears too.

If only it were that easy .

 

[wilberthenry]

There are plenty of cheap amps on craigslist and FB marketplace that will be able to handle that, but they will likely be heavy. I rocked a Peavy with an 18" speaker back in my punk rock days-----almost 4 decades back! As others have said, wear ear protection!

 

[bearhart74]

+1 on the tinitus waring. Heed that advice or get used to saying "what?" all the time when your 60.

Not only consider the drummer but the guitar(s). If your up against one or more 100 watt marshal head + 4x12 cabs and a guitarist who can only get "his tone" at 11 your in for an epic battle.

 

[Element Zero]

More than you need because you can always turn down. I use my 800 watt head even playing at 3 am at home in my office just 2 rooms over from my sleeping toddlers.

BUT…

I’d suggest at least 350 watts and a good 115 or 210