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.

 

[panama]

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.

I play in 2 very loud punk bands. Well, one hardcore punk band on bass, and one melodic hardcore band on guitar.

Hardcore punk band (bass): I use a Fender Super Bassman and matching 410 cab. It is overkill, but also I don't care and I do what I want. I am playing against a powerful drummer and 2 marshall heads going into 212 cabs. The beauty of the Fender is that it sounds excellent at all volumes, so as long as you don't mind the weight of the rig it's an excellent option for literally every size venue from basements to stadiums (we can all dream)

Melodic hardcore band (guitar): Again, very heavy handed drummer. I use a JCM 800 an a marshall 412 cabinet in this band. For relevance to this discussion, my bass player uses an Orange AD200B into a matching 410 orange cab. Other guitarist has a Tone King Royalist into a 412.

What you need will largely depend on your drummer's power, and what your guitarists are using. If you're doing solid state I'd be looking at no less than 500 watts. If you're going tube I'd be looking at no less than 200 watts. Either of these options into at least a 115 cab. You could try for a 100 watt tube head like the Ampeg V4B, but I have used one in my bands before (didn't own it, but one was at the rehearsal space from another band) I feel like even that kinda farts out when pushed super hard.

A lot of guys on here regularly play using IEMs and PA support with drummers and guitarists who care about the wellbeing of their audiences hearing and general enjoyment. Most don't do rehearsals at full gig volume 2-3x per week plus shows in weird places with only PA support for the vocals. My advice is buy as much power as you can afford.

And here is the most important piece of advice - buy ear plugs and wear them literally every single time you turn your amp on, and while watching the other bands at shows. Whether they're cheap foam, nicer ones off amazon, or custom molded ones. Wear them. Buy multiple pairs and stash them at home, at rehearsal, in your bass case, in your cars glove box. Never be without them or you will regret it.

 

[JoeyFab]

In my experience (rehearsing with a rock band in a rather small space with just room enough for 4 plus equipment), an 80-watt bass combo amp was not sufficient, so I bought a used 200-watt bass combo amp, and that was perfect. I regularly gig with a 500-watt rig, and have gigged outdoors with 900. Never played anywhere where I needed more power.

 

[MCS4]

In my experience, for any rock genre with a drummer playing at moderate to higher volume and guitar players playing at a level to be heard over the drums, you are going to need at least a 2x10 or equivalent speaker setup and enough amp to push the speaker. I'm no expert on watts but I would want at least 200-300, and IMO wattage is cheap enough these days that I would go with 500w+ and be done with it assuming your cab is rated to handle it.

And definitely wear earplugs to every rehearsal unless the band is consciously turning the volume down.

 

[pepj]

Putting a band together suggests to me a gigging enterprise so what you rehearse with is what you gig with.
Unless you have the luxury to have both, get a rig that works on both.

 

[lug]

I believe you will need a minimum of 100 watts more than whatever you decide on. This is how GAS works.................

 

[Clark Westfield]

We just played a gig last night in a bar, a large bar, and a 300 W head and Hartke 210HD was more than enough for our situation.

Volume was loud and the bass was pumping in the room.

Get a good 8 ohm 210, and 500 W minimum 4 ohm head, as you can always add another 210 later and blow the roof off.

 

[jdjk7]

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.

Anywhere between 250W and 800W should do you. IMO for a combo in that range, the cabinet/speaker arrangement matters more than the number of watts. The difference in practical power between 300W and 800W is only slightly noticeable, meanwhile the difference in sensitivity and frequency response from cab to cab can be very noticeable when that power is applied to it. Not to mention, knowing how to EQ for playing loud with a small rig.

 

[shoulderpet]

Different amps will put out different volumes at the same wattage, with some amps being noticeably louder or quieter than others at the same wattage.

I have a Mark bass 121H 1x12" combo and it is complete overkill for the gigs I have played (mainly pub gigs) and I have the volume barely turned up at all and can still hear myself clearly but better having too much power than too little.

I suspect for band practice you could probably get by with a 200w Trace Elliott Elf but again probably better to have something too powerful than not powerful enough, the other thing that may be an option is going direct into PA.

 

[Metalbasspro]

I could offer the same advice of many posters here but since they already covered it, I would say this, if you buy a 1000 Watt Amp it will handle your band and anything you might run into in the future. Don't spend money twice end the issues once and for all.

 

[TheMantis]

OK, this is a common claim and I will agree that I have never run out of volume with solid state 400 watt amps I have owned. I also have played lots of gigs with much lower wattage amps.

It’s all relative to how loud you need to be.

To TheMantis:

What’s your “half cab”?

Keep in mind that power is NOT linear. Twice the wattage is not twice as loud, ten times the wattage is. So if used with the same cabinet, to be twice as loud as a 60 watt amp like you mentioned, you would need 600 watts and then hope the cabinet can handle that much power. Twice the wattage only increases the level by 3 decibels, which is noticeable but an increase of 3 dB or less is useless to me if I can’t get loud enough. My rule of thumb has always been four times the power which is still not twice as loud but significantly louder.

Using the numbers giving above, 400 watts is only 0.57 db more than 350 watts and 500 watts is only 1 dB louder than 400 watts. So if the ratings are honest, I would never buy a 400 or 500 watt amp if 350 watts wasn’t cutting it.

Exactly how much power an amp can really deliver compared to the manufacturer’s rating varies. Those Chinese “1000 watt” Bluetooth speakers you can find all over eBay for less than $100 are nowhere near that power in reality, for example. Bass amps are usually rated by the manufacturer for the power delivered at the lowest supported cabinet impedance, typically 4 ohms in some cases like old Peaveys 2 ohms. If you use a single 8 ohm cabinet, the delivered power will be much less.

As far as budget, buy used…period.

Portable + loud + cheap is basically impossible. You can have two of the three, like loud and cheap…but it won’t be very portable, at least in terms of weight. Here in the USA, if you throw portable out the window you can get used 80s era Peavey amps and cabs really cheap…a 2-15 cabinet with a 200 watt head for around $400. There’s only a few thousand photos of punk bands using Peavey rigs like that.

Portable + loud will strain your budget. How much are you willing to spend?

My current rig is a Fender Rumble 500W head and an Ashdown EVO IV 410 that is rated at 650W. My budget is probably $300-350; tops. There is somebody in my local area selling an SWR Workingman's 210 that's rated at 200W for $350. One of the side carrying handles has a seriously rough case of corrosion though so I'm wondering if this thing has been living in a musty basement.

 

[Pulverizor]

My current rig is a Fender Rumble 500W head and an Ashdown EVO IV 410...

Forgetaboutit!

That'll be fine.

 

[Bertone]

As already said, it really depends on the kind of music and how loud the drummer is. I play in a rock band that is quite loud, In rehersals I use a Hiwatt 100w tube head and a Fender 610 cab. Works great. I use the same rig live, and always have to turn down a lot compared to rehersal (because FOH wants more control by sending bass through the PA). Live my rig is basically for cool looks and stage monitoring

 

[urkel3000]

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.

Ampeg 610 and 400 watts for punk, bare minimum, for me and in my experience

 

[TheMantis]

I’d just like to take a second to thank everyone who took the time to share their knowledge and experience with me in this thread. I was honestly expecting at least 30% of the replies to be people calling me a dummy or something. I really appreciate all of your advice.

I’d especially like to thank robert_stuart for offering to straight up loan me a cab if I were in his area! You are a gentleman and a scholar! If you’re ever in the Greater Toronto Area, let me know and I’ll buy you a beverage!

I’m 1000% going to use hearing protection. My old man worked in a machine shop for a number of years in the age when cigarettes were good for you and safety equipment was for dames! By the time he was in his late thirties-early forties, if he watched TV, you could hear the show from the opposite end of the house.

I also have a drummer friend who had to hang his sticks up due to tinnitus, unfortunately.

Update: We’ve set our rehearsal for this Sunday afternoon. I looked up the rehearsal room and it’s 1500 sq. feet!? That’s almost double the size of my apartment! Apparently, the rehearsal space rental will include a bass amp so I won’t have to worry about the logistics of transporting one this time at least. My apartment complex is laid out in a very odd way. Fortunately, my unit is on ground floor next to the main entrance ,but, in order to get to the parking lot of the property, I have to drag my gear down a series of walking paths and lift it over the curb. Good times. Maybe what I should actually invest in is a hand truck. lol!

 

[Solipsistik]

My take after years of gigs: 300W is a nice starting point to be, with a 2x10" or a good 12" in my opinion - there are a lot of amps out there that will do 500W @ 4 Ohm and 300W @ 8 ohm, so do pay some attention to the impedance if you're going to use one cab and a head in particular. I don't care for 15" as on-stage monitors, they've very good for front of house, however. Depending on the rest of the band and the venue, this should be sufficient, especially if you raise the cabinet or combo off the ground - or just as good, lay it back so it's aimed at you like a monitor, and the front of house done with XLR. Gig with what you practice with, if you can, and remember not to scoop out the mid tones too much, since they help cut through the mix.

When I say it really depends on the band, I play in a second band that really likes Beatles/Eagles type of music and a female drummer with a relatively moderate volume, which I appreciate. For that band, I play through their Rumble 100 and a Fender Precision that they bought from auction for $100! The keyboard player usually asks me to turn down a little...

 

[Kaa]

Practice shouldn't be loud. Practice is for getting the songs together, after everyone has their parts down. (Which, I am ashamed to say I am that guy.)

In my personal experience, I've had a lot of jams in my buddy's basement, with acoustic drums, and have very rarely turned a 100 watt 1x15" combo above 25% of the volume knob. (just as a point of reference.) The guitarist uses a Vox AC10, and we have a small PA set up for the singers.

Protect your ears. I have the tinnitus. (Wilfred Brimly voice.)

 

[brianrost]

Practice shouldn't be loud.

I wish that was always true. To many auditions in the past where I showed up at the practice space with a low-wattage combo and found full Marshall stacks… Bands that want to play at full stage volume aren’t for me.

 

[H Nighttrain]

Practice shouldn't be loud. Practice is for getting the songs together, after everyone has their parts down....

Generally true, but after a group gets the songs together - there is real value, mostly for players with less stage experience, in practicing at gig-level volume before performing in that environment.

 

[Kaa]

Generally true, but after a group gets the songs together - there is real value, mostly for players with less stage experience, in practicing at gig-level volume before performing in that environment.

Can't argue against that.

 

[bknop]

Back when I was in a loud rock band, I was using a beastly Fender BXR 300c combo with an Eminence Delta 15 installed. The speaker was about 97db sensitive in the mid bass region and the enclosure was around 3 cuft. In a loud practice or live, I was often maxing out the amp. Dual 15s would have been nice to have. These days we have high power amps and high excursion woofers are available now, so it's possible to save weight. If I were to do it again, I would want a 400-500 watt rms solid state amp/ or a 300 watt tube amp into a few 15s or 12s, I am partial to tube amps though, they just sound richer and have a fuller tone to me. I also would choose woofers that can handle way more power than needed, like a 200-300 watt rms woofer mated to a 100 watt rms amp. The reasoning is to reduce power compression in the speaker caused by heating the voice coil Less power keeps the coil's resistance closer to how it is at low volume by running cooler. This will save on how much amplifier power is needed and promotes reliability in the speaker. It could mean the difference between using a 200w amp and a 100w amp