I defintely do not want to play competing volume with anyone ,they can win i play to blend i am a musician not a race car driver we can all stand around a look at the motor or we can be dynamic and make some music!that being said you do need at least 200 watt's into 8 ohm's for a good live performance!
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Is 100 watts enough to play out? ... mmmmmmnope.
- Thread starter Munjibunga
- Start date
Well I once played an acoustic set with only an acoustic guitar, no amp.... singer had nothing but his lungs and voice. A 35 watt 10inch combo was more than enough. It was like a 15 person audience. that was so fun. I had so much room to play what i wanted, which was not much cuz I am mediocre now and this was 4 years ago!
agreed, I want to be noticed when I stop playing not cuz I can play super bass solos and lines. that's just me.
I'm not gonna read 11 pages of a 10 year old thread just to make sure I'm not preaching to the choir, but fwiw:
I spent two years playing in a raging loud punk rock band with nothing but the head ripped out of a Polytone MiniBrute III combo amp -- which is, depending on who you ask, either 85 watts rms or, at best, 100 watts rms.
Of course, it was driving an Ampeg SVT 8x10" cabinet...
Worked fine. Clean, clear, and loud as all getout. Never had a problem being heard over two guitarists, a drummer, & a shreiker.
I spent two years playing in a raging loud punk rock band with nothing but the head ripped out of a Polytone MiniBrute III combo amp -- which is, depending on who you ask, either 85 watts rms or, at best, 100 watts rms.
Of course, it was driving an Ampeg SVT 8x10" cabinet...
Worked fine. Clean, clear, and loud as all getout. Never had a problem being heard over two guitarists, a drummer, & a shreiker.
The cab makes a big difference.
I've played a 100 watt, V4BH, in a single 15 cab. (not that loud)
But, the same head, in a good 2x15, or 6x10 cab, has much more head room.
Will compete with a Twin.
I've played many club gigs with a Fender 175 watt head and I rarely took the volume past halfway.
The cab makes a big difference.
I've played a 100 watt, V4BH, in a single 15 cab. (not that loud)
But, the same head, in a good 2x15, or 6x10 cab, has much more head room.
Will compete with a Twin.
This is loud...
...V4B-AV (100w) into a very efficient 2x15 cab
Hearing about the rigs you guys have been successfully using makes me not sure what I've been doing wrong - over time, I've worked my way up:
50W combo with 1x10
200W combo with 4x10
500W head through 2x112 cabs
400W head through 4x10
I now play all gigs through a 750W head and 410 cab and it is the first rig that I feel good using on virtually any gig with adequate headroom (though only 50% of the time I am going through the PA). Playing with a heavy-handed drummer and two Les Pauls, the other rigs mentioned above simply seemed to run out of steam...
50W combo with 1x10
200W combo with 4x10
500W head through 2x112 cabs
400W head through 4x10
I now play all gigs through a 750W head and 410 cab and it is the first rig that I feel good using on virtually any gig with adequate headroom (though only 50% of the time I am going through the PA). Playing with a heavy-handed drummer and two Les Pauls, the other rigs mentioned above simply seemed to run out of steam...
Last practise the lead guitard player showed up with a 60watt Marshall tube which sounded awsome but totally killed the little 30watt combo I was using, then he calls and tells me he has a 100watt Peavy tube head. So I bought a 450watt watt head and 410 cab. We'll see how this works out, I will be heard!
Speakers matter quite a bit. Unless you've got about speaker area parity with the guitarists, there's a good chance of being buried in a loud band. Exceptions exist, obviously.
100 watts doesn't really say much, though. There are just too many variables. How clean do you like your sound? This is especially pertinent if you're using a tube amp. A V4(B) will probably be tremendously loud through a big cab if turned up all the way. I have a 180 watt amp and it's actually somewhat painfully loud when turned up high. But then, I've never minded, and even like some distortion in my sound. I also am certainly not running through a little 1x10, either.
100 watts doesn't really say much, though. There are just too many variables. How clean do you like your sound? This is especially pertinent if you're using a tube amp. A V4(B) will probably be tremendously loud through a big cab if turned up all the way. I have a 180 watt amp and it's actually somewhat painfully loud when turned up high. But then, I've never minded, and even like some distortion in my sound. I also am certainly not running through a little 1x10, either.
throw another identical 410 on top of that one and i guarantee you'll love it even more and not run out of headroom with half that wattage. it's all about the cab, not the wattage. ok, it's a little about the wattage.
they must've been 'going rogue' at the hartke factory the day they built my A-100, 'cause its loud
as lung-snot... 100 watts, 1 15" incher, it just kicks like crazy and always holds its own in various
high-octane gigs. i think overall volume is really on a rig-by-rig basis..
as lung-snot... 100 watts, 1 15" incher, it just kicks like crazy and always holds its own in various
high-octane gigs. i think overall volume is really on a rig-by-rig basis..
I agree. We have full PA support for gigs and use in-ear monitors. My stage amp is just a monitor and I don't hear it at all unless I take out my headset. The PA has plenty of power to make the bass sound great in the FOH mix. At one point, I was using my vintage Sunn Concert 200 watt head and was having problems with it overheating. I would power it down between sets to let it cool down. During one of our gigs, I forgot to turn the amp back on after a break and we played the entire set with my amp off. It sounded great to everyone in the band through the in-ears, and to the crowd through the PA. No one, including me, even noticed that my amp was turned off. It made me wonder if I should go ampless like Geddy Lee.
I use a 100w V4BH. WAY loud enough. If I ever would need more volume, they'd be micing us, anyway. So, I don't get where you're coming from.
This is loud...
...V4B-AV (100w) into a very efficient 2x15 cab
Nice set up - I wish my V4BH had the AV cosmetics!
Took a driver in a few weeks ago to be reconed and had a real interesting discussion with the guy who was doing it. He had been designing, building and rebuilding speakers (the drivers - not the boxes) since the 70s.
His claim is that most/many modern drivers are not nearly as efficient as the old ones. The main reason is that older drivers had much tighter voice coil gaps than the new ones. This would result in higher efficiency, with the tradeoff of a higher burnout rate.
He gave specific examples of common drivers that used to be made in North America but no longer are. Gaps were increased, and efficiency has suffered.
All I know is that 70w with two 15" K140F in individual (and huge) loaded horn cabs that I used to play through was louder than my 2x GB112s and Mesa 600W. MUCH louder.
js
His claim is that most/many modern drivers are not nearly as efficient as the old ones. The main reason is that older drivers had much tighter voice coil gaps than the new ones. This would result in higher efficiency, with the tradeoff of a higher burnout rate.
He gave specific examples of common drivers that used to be made in North America but no longer are. Gaps were increased, and efficiency has suffered.
All I know is that 70w with two 15" K140F in individual (and huge) loaded horn cabs that I used to play through was louder than my 2x GB112s and Mesa 600W. MUCH louder.
js
Okay you guys are all crazy. Sure go get a 100W crate and play it through some horn loaded pa subs. It will be loud enough but will sound indistinct.
it is pretty much a carved in stone rule that tube heads are just louder than solid state heads. I had a full rack system, preamp, compressor, stereo power amp pushing a 2x15 and a 4x10. I traded it for a tube head that could only do one cab at a time, but was easily twice as loud. Watts? Well the rack system was bout 700 watts. The tube head was maybe 90?
It also has a lot to do with your bands arrangements and the sound of your bandmates. If your guitarist is gonna jump on the nu-metal bandwagon and geta 7 string ibanez and those ported guitar cabs then you just have to retreat to the sub-octave zone and show him how you can rattle his beer off his amp!
I have actually devoted whole practices to getting the band to sound good. If you guitarist is a jerk about it tell him you will trade, let him play with your amps tone and you can play with his. Or get a girlfriend involved ask a 3rd party to tell you who is too loud and how. Sometimes it is easy to lose prespective on the treble-mid-bass balance.
it is pretty much a carved in stone rule that tube heads are just louder than solid state heads. I had a full rack system, preamp, compressor, stereo power amp pushing a 2x15 and a 4x10. I traded it for a tube head that could only do one cab at a time, but was easily twice as loud. Watts? Well the rack system was bout 700 watts. The tube head was maybe 90?
It also has a lot to do with your bands arrangements and the sound of your bandmates. If your guitarist is gonna jump on the nu-metal bandwagon and geta 7 string ibanez and those ported guitar cabs then you just have to retreat to the sub-octave zone and show him how you can rattle his beer off his amp!
I have actually devoted whole practices to getting the band to sound good. If you guitarist is a jerk about it tell him you will trade, let him play with your amps tone and you can play with his. Or get a girlfriend involved ask a 3rd party to tell you who is too loud and how. Sometimes it is easy to lose prespective on the treble-mid-bass balance.
This whole mega watt trend makes me laugh. If it serves your purpose that's great, but anyone who thinks 300 watts (even solid state) can't get it done is surely not speaking from a place of well rounded experience. No disrespect meant, but that's just not the case.
In the mid to late 80's this setup not only more than held its own with two 100 watt JCM800 stacks and some VERY loud drummers, but regularly made sound men weep and young rocker chicks get weak in the knees.
The 8X10 was run with 100 watts and the 4X12 (folded) with 300. This was a seriously loud combination that was not only heard, but felt in any room it was used in. BTW, I was all about clean bass tone at the time, so those volume levels were never distorted and the amp was never past 5 or 6 on the master (notwithstanding what knobs got turned while it was off).
In the mid to late 80's this setup not only more than held its own with two 100 watt JCM800 stacks and some VERY loud drummers, but regularly made sound men weep and young rocker chicks get weak in the knees.
The 8X10 was run with 100 watts and the 4X12 (folded) with 300. This was a seriously loud combination that was not only heard, but felt in any room it was used in. BTW, I was all about clean bass tone at the time, so those volume levels were never distorted and the amp was never past 5 or 6 on the master (notwithstanding what knobs got turned while it was off).
