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Why do you see...

R

ROON

Aug 5, 2006
5,029
19
Sydney, Australia
www.myspace.com
#1
guitardists with a almighty wall of Marshall amps, and the bassist only needs one or two 8x10's to be heard? Are 5/6 of the guitard stacks even turned on? :confused:

It struck me when I was watching an Annihilator clip today... it's just... weird.

As for the bassists that have the almighty wall of amps, do you think they use them all too?
 
#3
unclejam said:
no

its all show only 2 Sacks are in use

unless its Slayer they use ALL Of them!even in the studio they mic all the speakers!
Click to expand...

I really don't get Slayer. I just don't see why people like them. Much better and creative metal out there IMO!!! I remember at a Black Label Society concert last September, all of Zakk's (the lead guitarist's) amps were turned on... it seriously sounded like he was using all of them too. Maaaaaaan that was a loud concert. :eek: :hyper:
 
#4
ROON said:
I really don't get Slayer. I just don't see why people like them. Much better and creative metal out there IMO!!! I remember at a Black Label Society concert last September, all of Zakk's (the lead guitarist's) amps were turned on... it seriously sounded like he was using all of them too. Maaaaaaan that was a loud concert. :eek: :hyper:
Click to expand...

I agree with every facet of that post (except I saw BLS in March).

Marshall stack = 100 watts
Ampeg stack = 1200 watts

Answer your question?
 
#5
Sound Chaser said:
I agree with every facet of that post (except I saw BLS in March).

Marshall stack = 100 watts
Ampeg stack = 1200 watts

Answer your question?
Click to expand...

Sorry for my ignorance, but is a Marshall stack really only 100 watts?! :eek: No wonder they need a whopping big wall of them... Can't remember what the size of JD's rig was, it was more than one 8x10 though, that's for sure.
 
#8
yea most of it is for show, but i believe zakk is one of the rare exceptions. i think he runs 8 4x12's loaded with evm12's.

btw a 1200 watt ampeg stack (svt4pro with an 810) would break a major sweat keeping up with a cranked 100 watt full stack (typical marshall jcm800, or boogie dual rec, with two 412's) let alone two or three. bass is much harder to push than treble, and takes tons more power. 100 watts of bass power isn't much by todays standards. but for guitar, 100 watts of tube power will kill small animals and children. i've gigged with 30 watt tube combos (on guitar) and i find that they will make a 400 watt bass rig really work hard if you dime them.
 
#9
I read an article on Brian May once where it was revealed that only one of the Vox amps in his wall of Voxes was actually live - he just mic'd it through the sound system. I guess the rest of 'em were dummy amps, just because it looked cooler than having a single AC-30 (or whatever it was) on the big stage.
 
#10
All of the above is true...

My guitard usually uses a Mesa Single Rectifier combo (50 watts, 1x12) with a Mesa 1x12 extension cab underneath. Kind of a mini stack. Loud as @#$%. I play with 425 watts and we are pretty evenly matched. He also has a Dual Rectifier with a 4x12 underneath, but most places we play are too small for that.

If a guitar player is using more than a 100-120 watt tube amp, they just don't want you or anyone else, including themselves, to keep your hearing past the age of 40. Or they have a maturity problem.
 
#11
With bass too, you don't necessarily hear or feel the pain in your ears as it gets louder.

Feeling your heart pump and getting pushed away from 2000watts of dual 8x10's is one thing.

Standing next to the sound of 100 watts of treble and feeling the blood trickle out of your ears because your guitarist is playing a lead that can only be described as nails on a chalkboard, is a total other.
 
#12
Sound Chaser said:
I agree with every facet of that post (except I saw BLS in March).

Marshall stack = 100 watts
Ampeg stack = 1200 watts

Answer your question?
Click to expand...

that doesnt really answer anything. guitar rigs are always louder than bass ones because of the frequencies they are emitting. that is why you can be at band practice with your 200 watt combo and your guitarist has a 35 watt amp and you can hear him fine.

the people who have these walls of amps usually are just for show, most of the time they are playing through only one of them. its stupid even if they did play through all of them, because at a show like that, they are just gonna mic everything and throw it out through the PA system anyway.

i think a lot of bands that have these walls of marshalls are using just empty cabinets anyway. i know a lot of bands just have one actual amp out there while all the rest are just empty shells set up for show. makes it easier to load it and out if there is nothing inside the cabs.
 
#14
My Guitard used a 70's Marshall 100W head with a 4x12 Cab. My ears ring for 3-4 days after PRACTICE if I don't use earplugs. And his volume is at 3 or 4 MAX.:eek:

Those things are friggin loud! My 450W solid state Ampeg needs 2 cabs and gain from a SansAmp, MXR 10 band EQ and Sonic Maximizer to keep up.:help:
 
#19
andrewd said:
One of my guitar players uses a 30 watt Bad Cat head through a 2x12 Avatar. That thing is the loudest 30 watts EVER.
Click to expand...

In my living room I have a 50-watt Vox, a 30-watt Laney, and a 17(?)-watt Ampeg (a 1961 Reverberocket I just had restored). The only amp that ever brought one of the security guys to knock on the door of my apartment because of the volume was the little Ampeg. It's the loudest 17 watts ever!!

Anyway, it takes a lot less power to amplify frequencies in the mid and treble ranges to a certain apparent volume level than it does to amplify the bass end of the spectrum to be at that apparent volume level.
 

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