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The Mile-High Watts Club

#41
I'm not going to say that I or anyone else "needs" 1,000+ watts to gig with. In fact, my last four gigs were with rigs putting out 250, 350, 500, and 300 watts, respectively, and I had plenty of volume/presence for each gig.

That being said, I think I understand the fun factor inherent in this thread, and of course, I'd love to play along! :D

Here's 1,200 watts for ya:
IMG_7822.jpg


1,200 and 1,000 watt rigs, side by side:
IMG_0900.jpg


2,000 watts (bridged, from the CA9), and while the DB728's measly 400 watts don't technically qualify for club recognition, I dare anyone to stand in front of that rig running full blast with a full stomach! :eek: :smug: :D :p
IMG_0850.jpg


This guy'll crack 1,200 when I add in the second LS1503, and over 1,700 watts when pushing a 2-ohm load!
CarvinRig.jpg


1,500 watts of IP goodness!
IMG_5096.jpg
 
#42
But wait, there's more! :D

Man, I forget how I had all of those cabs plugged in, but let's call it @ 3k watts. :smug:
EAoverkill.jpg


Another iteration of the 1k EA rig:
2ohmEArig.jpg


1,000 watts of Eden, baby!
120_2099.jpg


Over 1k watts from GK:
IMG_8785.jpg


Here's the 3002 driving my old Epi stack:
UltimateEpiRig.jpg


This rig really had it all!
IMG_0448.jpg


Probably one of my most ludicrous stage rigs, ever!
31302GigShot2-med.jpg


Well, except maybe for this 3,000-watt IP setup! :eek:
121_2197.jpg


Here are a couple more 400-watt all-tube options that'll turn your insides to mush!
IMG_1651.jpg


110_1022.jpg


IMG_5161.jpg
 
#43
KJung said:
I bet that is something to try to pick up. Whew!

I would guess that cab is relatively mid voiced, and relatively high SPL. Shouldn't take a lot of wattage to crank that up to some amazing SPL as long as you don't crank too much bass into it.

Again, that 'maximum power rating' has very little to do with anything, so don't feel like you need 2000 watts or something to get that thing crankin'.
Click to expand...

Kjung... most of us are aware of the difference in SPL vs. wattage rating re: tube vs. solid state. To most, including myself, that means little as it applies to bass signal. No disrespect whatsoever, but here is my rationale:

I've produced. I've done live sound. I've built class A and AB tube guitar amps, with the primary focus on minimal high-volume breakup, but in my experience solid-state systems work far better for the precision that bass-playing requires. Hence the overwhelming majority of ss bass amp users, I believe.

Harmonics and overtone tube tweaking- fine for freqs more compatible to human voicing. In that register, they come across beautifully, but not so much in the one I've chosen. That is not to say that ss amps are incapable of harmonic reproduction whatsoever...but.

Even tube harmonics slog in the mix.

Some of my friends disagree, but that's ok, man, to each his own. Low-reg nuance is a deeply personal subject, open to extreme interpretation.

Below those human freqs, I'm just looking for clarity, and sublime clarity at that. That is why I compress (slightly) and eq (minimally) my sound, and rely on an overkill of headroom.

Of course, I realize that sound is relevant to personal preference, and therefore am not EVEN going to pretend that my opinions are those of the general population.

I'm just ensuring MY basement is clean.

Once again, no disrespect.

BTW, all power to ya'll straight tube and tube pre-amp fans. Do whatever sounds right. I will, too.
 
#45
Baron Von Vik said:
Kjung... most of us are aware of the difference in SPL vs. wattage rating re: tube vs. solid state. To most, including myself, that means little as it applies to bass signal. No disrespect whatsoever, but here is my rationale:

I've produced. I've done live sound. I've built class A and AB tube guitar amps, with the primary focus on minimal high-volume breakup, but in my experience solid-state systems work far better for the precision that bass-playing requires. Hence the overwhelming majority of ss bass amp users, I believe.

Harmonics and overtone tube tweaking- fine for freqs more compatible to human voicing. In that register, they come across beautifully, but not so much in the one I've chosen. That is not to say that ss amps are incapable of harmonic reproduction whatsoever...but.

Even tube harmonics slog in the mix.

Some of my friends disagree, but that's ok, man, to each his own. Low-reg nuance is a deeply personal subject, open to extreme interpretation.

Below those human freqs, I'm just looking for clarity, and sublime clarity at that. That is why I compress (slightly) and eq (minimally) my sound, and rely on an overkill of headroom.

Of course, I realize that sound is relevant to personal preference, and therefore am not EVEN going to pretend that my opinions are those of the general population.

I'm just ensuring MY basement is clean.

Once again, no disrespect.

BTW, all power to ya'll straight tube and tube pre-amp fans. Do whatever sounds right. I will, too.
Click to expand...


Actual, it seems we are agreeing. Talking about anything without context is relatively useless (i.e., watts, without a context of tone goal, cab voicing, SPL, absolute volume requirments, etc.) +1 all the way.

And +1 to the gearmaster Bowlus's comment above.... even taking the above stuff into consideration, having a 1000 watt rig is, well, kind of cool in a more existential sort of way:D
 
#55
My usual bass rig is an SWR 8x8 driven by one side of a CA9, so that just squeaks in at 900 watts. Plenty loud enough to balance with almost any drummer in almost any room.

On perhaps three occasions I have brought both of my 8x8's and run 1800 watts. Stupidly loud, gets the job done going toe to toe with multiple guitar players using cranked full stacks.

But let's talk large. My biggest hillbilly engineering rig of doom went something like this:

signal split 3 ways:

channel 1: Traynor TS50 -> one side of a Crest CA9 -> Henry the 8x8 (dirty)

channel 2: Art Pro MPA Channel 1 -> dbx 166 compressor channel 1-> Orban 622b parametric EQ channel 1 -> other side of the CA9 -> EAW FR253e (clean)

channel 3: Art Pro MPA channel 2 -> dbx 166 compressor channel 2 -> Orban 622b parametric EQ channel 2 -> Crest CD2000 (bridged mono) -> EAW SB528z (dub)

So you get my regular rig run dirtier than usual in to the 8x8, a box loaded with Celestion drivers which behaves more like an old school 'bass amp' kind of rig than a modern 'hi-fi' kind of rig. In parallel to that is a slightly compressed and EQ'd for a bright/modern sound from the FR253, that's a full range box loaded with 2x15"+2x7"+1x1.4" RCF drivers. And in parallel to all of that is the EAW 2x18", fairly squashed and EQ'd for a dub reggae kind of sound.

3800 watts
1 inch exit compression driver + 2x7 + 8x8 + 2x15 + 2x18.
3 way dirty/bright clean/deep clean

I actually own two of everything in the setup, I could do this all stereo.

But that would be silly.
 
#58
Bassflute said:
I'll bet that Lexicon sounds GREAT through that....nothing like stereo...
Click to expand...

There are actually two Lexicons in that pic, an MPX-550 and an old Vortex. The MPX has digital outs and can interface with the DSP unit directly, so I can assign a separate effected DI mix (in stereo), for instance. One of these days I'll post a scary block diagram of my whole rig's signal chain, but it somehow seems to be constantly morphing on its own!

--CE
 
#60
mid_life_crisis said:
When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of the original mile high club and thought this was going to be for guys who have used their stacks as perches for sexual congress.
Imagine my disappointment...
...of course it would be a real balancing act to do that on my little tiltback.
Click to expand...

what would be better for this, rat fur or tolex?

It's the only time I can think of I'd want a tuck and roll cab.
 

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