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To downsize or not to downsize

What amp


  • Total voters
    110
I am going through this same dilemma and my girlfriend flat out said she didn't care what I did because I never tell her not to buy any art supplies for her studio. She also gave me the biggest room in our house with the best acoustics as a music room!

The only thing she doesn't put up with is me talking about gear with her brother, who plays guitar, non stop when he is at the house.
 
Instead of looking at it as “downsizing,” I’d consider making changes to “right-size” for your situation. I never look at gear as an investment. They’re just tools and if I don’t need them, I sell or trade for what I will use. If the time comes when you’ll need new items, there’s always new stuff coming out that’s really cool that you might be happier with. JMHO.
 
I am certain the OP's position is better than my past experience.

My ex wife moved in with me. I had a Portaflex and a 1972 P in the living room. A B15S in the master bedroom with a Guild JSBII. In the Lower level was a Single Showman tone ring cab, a Showman head, a Blond Bassman head a 1969 Gibson SG, 2 Mid Bins, A couple of Heil Cubes and a couple of power amps and mixers, the 361 was resigned to the garage. everything was send to the lower level and stacked away. I managed to place the small Portaflex and the Guild in accessible positions.

I could be in a band as long as:
1. We did not practice at our house
2. It did not interfere with her weekend plans
3. No females in the band
4. I didn't fall behind on my duties around the house
5. I didn't buy any more gear without selling something

My current and hopefully last wife bought the bass I use for me, and the amp. She loves to watch me play. One day at Music Go Round she said I don't suppose we could find room for a guitar for me. We went home with a gothed out Ibanez something or other.
 
Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8 Ohm AND Live. Using both you can safely run 200W, Live has headphone out for silent practice, and Captor has -20db speaker output for (some) attenuation of volume when you can make some noise.

Scratch that, for home use get two Captors, cause it's cheaper, you can then get a small mixer for headphone out, plus it will allow you to plug in i.e. a phone and run backing tracks simultaneously.
 
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The footprint on this is very small.

Screen Shot 2019-12-06 at 8.55.34 AM.png
 
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I got a YBA 200. Great amp! Sounds good in my living room when I crank it into my 810. My Mrs. has to move around each day. There’s a bunch of them floating around though and they don’t have great resale value.

My lady gave me a room for my hobby’s and equipment but I still leave stuff by the door all the time. We have even say with everything and support each other so if I want an amp I keep it. If she wants to buy a 1000 books and have a corner in the living room where she can read and enjoy coffee with a chair thats hers I support that. We both win and don’t resent each other at the end of the night.
 
I got a YBA 200. Great amp! Sounds good in my living room when I crank it into my 810. My Mrs. has to move around each day. There’s a bunch of them floating around though and they don’t have great resale value.

My lady gave me a room for my hobby’s and equipment but I still leave stuff by the door all the time. We have even say with everything and support each other so if I want an amp I keep it. If she wants to buy a 1000 books and have a corner in the living room where she can read and enjoy coffee with a chair thats hers I support that. We both win and don’t resent each other at the end of the night.

plus 1 to this
 
The questions are always worth asking.
I recently ditched my huge 80s 1*15 and rack mount amp for a class D and modern design cab half the cubic centimetres and a quarter of the kilograms. No regrets.

But if you aren't going to make a huge saving like that without compromising your ability to play in a band when you next choose, you need to wonder if you'll save enough room to justify...
 
I'd be looking at replacing the 115 cab with a 110 cab (Trace Elf 1x10?) which would be sufficient for home practice. You'd still have the big amp but at least the overall volume of the system would be less.

Or perhaps you'd find a new micro head that you like enough to downsize that too.
 
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I've never needed anything bigger than my 15w rumble at home, or playing without drums. If I did I'd be asking folks to turn down cuz there's j
I am certain the OP's position is better than my past experience.

My ex wife moved in with me. I had a Portaflex and a 1972 P in the living room. A B15S in the master bedroom with a Guild JSBII. In the Lower level was a Single Showman tone ring cab, a Showman head, a Blond Bassman head a 1969 Gibson SG, 2 Mid Bins, A couple of Heil Cubes and a couple of power amps and mixers, the 361 was resigned to the garage. everything was send to the lower level and stacked away. I managed to place the small Portaflex and the Guild in accessible positions.

I could be in a band as long as:
1. We did not practice at our house
2. It did not interfere with her weekend plans
3. No females in the band
4. I didn't fall behind on my duties around the house
5. I didn't buy any more gear without selling something

My current and hopefully last wife bought the bass I use for me, and the amp. She loves to watch me play. One day at Music Go Round she said I don't suppose we could find room for a guitar for me. We went home with a gothed out Ibanez something or other.

Your current wife does sound like a keeper.
 
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