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How much wattage do you gig with?

How much wattage do you gig with?

  • Total voters
    1,020
#141
R Baer said:
Funny how the power requirements have changed over the years. My first "real" amp was a Fender Bassman 135. It was the loudest thing I had ever heard and I always got the same comment, "Dude, turn down". Next was an Eden WT300. Then came the SWR SM-400...wow, 400watts! Then the Trace Elliot, the Ashdown, the Mesa... every time with more power than before. With all these improvements in power, what do you think the comment I got most from my bandmates was? "Dude, you need to turn down".

The last couple years have seen the average amp well into the 500w to 600w range. Recently we are seeing amps hitting the 1000w range and even 1500w in some cases. Now there is even an amp called "The Nuke"! Makes me wonder what is next? Maybe an amp called the "Doomsday" with 50,000watts capable of putting out enough volume to create a black hole in space and end all life on this planet (except the cockroaches, of course). I guess we will just have to wait for NAMM 2010 to find out. :ninja:
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing the other day..

My first band (1 yr anniversary on May 2nd) first started, my Ampeg BA-112 was too loud for us.. Before the lead singer left, I almost had to cranked for shows..
Then I used my friends Hughes & Kettner and Hartke for a bit, and that was extremely loud.. that was only like 5 months ago..

I'm now using LH1000, 410HE, Transporter, that I guess that's getting by quite nicely...... for now
 
#143
SVT 3 Pro. I'll let the experts figure out how many watts at any point in time during a show. The amp is rated 450 RMS at 4 ohms, and I run 2 8 ohm cabs in order to get to the 4 ohms.
 
#151
30, 160, 500, 1000, or 1500 watts.
Each is appropriate for the gig.
It doesn't matter the watts as much as does sound good to me and is it loud enough. Do I get good clear reproduction w/transients at all the volumes I need? Does it break up because of my finger attack or because it's had it?

I don't play at any volumes where I need hearing protection. I play a lot of outside gigs with sound on a stick PA and I need the umph outside.

At bigger outside gigs I've been taken out of the mix when the engineer couldn't give me quality sound and good stage volume. This would be a mutual decision. So I would just turn up my rig. The band would hear what they were used to and everyone was happy. Often that's taking me out of the monitors.

Where the 30w is great with a acoustic guitarist the 160w is sweeter sounding. Stepping up one rig always makes for a sweeter sound. Except the 1000 to 1500 is a big jump. Mostly because of the speaker surface area. The 500w and 1000w sound great for quiet gigs though.
 
#155
depending on the gig, I'll take any combination of the below.

Hot rodded Laney B1
Ampeg SVT-4 pro
Mesa 400+
Presonus pre'
2x Powersoft 3002Q's


2x Larantz 4x10's
Mesa diesel 1516
Mesa 2x10
Custom built 2x15
 

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