Wattage Question??

CD9266 · Post by **CD9266** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 3:47 am

In my area, we have several venues that are popular for gigging. In one of them the monitors are practically blown (it's been this way for years now). The sound there is decent but I've had many bands say that they've had problems with sound there every time. The fact that the stage is like 20 feet long and the PA faces directly forward on the ends with blown monitors means that if you are in the middle up front, good luck hearing vocals. Sometimes they don't even have a sound guy there...

I've only heard one instance (that I can remember) of a band being told to turn down and it was at a bar that they do not normally hold rock shows. I don't think I've ever seen a band dime their amps. I've seen bands play where they used a freaking 15 watt practice amp because they had a new guitar player and he didn't have stage gear yet. You could easily tell which guitar player was playing what though, because it sounded quieter but more clear.

Now that I'm rambling, when I practice with my drummer, I can't turn my RV50 up past 4 on the gain channel (gain set at 6) and past 2 on the clean channel without drowning him out or getting yelled at to turn down (he lives in row houses so we have to be mindful).

Le Chat Noir · Post by **Le Chat Noir** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:25 am

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by somedude
Is there an ignore user button on this forum?

Seriously... this is getting old. I'm already dancing around the subject in order to avoid offending your delicate sensibilities. How about you return the favour by simply not replying to any of my posts?
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Offending my delicate sensibilities?? I thought we were just joking around, sorry if you thought i was deadly serious. Keep your hair on, the little smiley face with the wink is there for a reason - and if you're going to make smart arse replies, expect others to do the same!

I just realised that the 'but hopefully when you get to that level you're likely to have a competent sound crew and a good PA' could've been taken as a personal attack - I didn't mean it that way, I was using 'you' in a general way!! I'm only a low level musician myself, never played a stadium in my life, so I hope you didn't think I was being condescending! Apologies if you took it that way.

This thread has reminded me once again why I stopped looking at this forum... I only come on here for light hearted discussion and it seems to always end up turning sour for some reason. I guess it's because it's so easy for people to take like hearted joking too seriously when it's written down.

Magnus Pettersen · Post by **Magnus Pettersen** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:42 am

I have a 18 watter Dr.Z Carmen Ghia, and with a GZ34 rec tube it is more than enough for a semi-clean stage volume.

CD9266 · Post by **CD9266** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:00 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Le Chat Noir
This thread has reminded me once again why I stopped looking at this forum... I only come on here for light hearted discussion and it seems to always end up turning sour for some reason. I guess it's because it's so easy for people to take like hearted joking too seriously when it's written down.
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I'm a Global Moderator (over everything...) on my gaming communities forums and this is just a simple misunderstanding... if you think this is being taken too seriously, I'll say this, it hasn't turned into a full on shouting match... and I think you are blowing this a little out of proportion. He took something you said slightly offensive, made his remark. So don't come back with another remark that can push the argument further. Just squash it, make up and move on.

Yes we all know there's retards who run sound at some clubs/bars/stadiums. We all know some amps just can't do gigs well due to volume or not enough spread. So there were a lot of good suggestions in this topic and I hope that someone gains something from this thread. Remember that everyone has opinions that are theirs. They are free to express. Everyone also has their own preferred way of dealing with stage problems.

My suggestion for needing more volume spread is try to get another amp setup that's the same for a bigger show. Then for smaller shows you have backups in case you need them.

Le Chat Noir · Post by **Le Chat Noir** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:10 pm

There is a history here though beyond this thread - I've been misunderstood in previous 'low wattage' threads by the same guy. For some reason he got the idea I'm a low wattage evangelist, which couldn't be further from the truth. I have amps of wattages from 7-100w and love them all.

I've successfully used 100w amps in tiny clubs and 15w amps on big stages and learnt quite a bit about the tricks for getting it to work, so I think I'm modestly qualified to venture my opinion about the possibilities of using different wattages in different scenarios. This discussion just happened to be started by someone interested in using a low wattage amp, and so I answer to the best of my abilities.

Anyway, I did apologise, so I hope that's the end of it... I just don't like it when I seem to inadvertently cause offence to people, as that was never my intention. and I certainly don't want to be taken as condescending or arrogant - I'm not a great guitarist, but I do have some modest real life experience of gigging and I try to pass on any helpful information whenever I can.

MaxRossell · Post by **MaxRossell** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:16 pm

Hey man, look at it this way - on this other forum I go (went) on, we were having this ordinary discussion about a current event, I took a view that I thought was reasonable but differed from the consensus, people started abusing me for it, at that point I decided I no longer wanted to be part of the forum and requested that my account be deleted*, and now they're having a post-mortem where they're all talking about how much they hate me and all sorts of other petty crap.

Compared to that forum, this one is a haven of tranquility. I hereby officially resolve to only ever go on forums for musicians about music, because there at least there's a common thread of discussion and any disagreements can be put down to "it's just a matter of personal taste".

*Actually what happened was the administrators decided that for some unfathomably childish reason they weren't going to ban me, so in the end I had to resort to circumventing the swear filter in a post, so they had to, which of course is yet another reason for them to act all superior. Some people are just idiots.

Le Chat Noir · Post by **Le Chat Noir** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:06 pm

Max, I agree, the only reason I post here at all is because it's one of the few places on the internet you can have adult discussion without it always turning into a flame fest - which is why I take it seriously when someone starts to kick off, as I don't want this place to end up like every other forum.

However, it seems the topic of low wattage amps is a particular bone of contention for some, and conversations regarding them always seem to turn into personal attacks quickly.

I believe you should use whatever amp you want - so long as you can get the tone you like, when you like, where you like. I'm just interested in exploring all avenues, whilst some (I'm not aiming this at anyone specifically) cannot look past a 100w amp as the only thing which can get you to where you want to go - and seem to take it personally when anyone else suggests otherwise.

I think it's misleading to anyone browsing the net for information on what you need to gig to be given the impression that you NEED a 100w stack to play larger venues, I'd rather they had all the facts and could decide for themselves.

airforce_brian · Post by **airforce_brian** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:37 pm

If you are really concerned about the volume, why don't you check out the Badger 30?

30 watts is definitely enough, and it can still be driven hard enough to hit the sweet spot.

CD9266 · Post by **CD9266** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:45 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MaxRossell
 Hey man, look at it this way - on this other forum I go (went) on, we were having this ordinary discussion about a current event, I took a view that I thought was reasonable but differed from the consensus, people started abusing me for it, at that point I decided I no longer wanted to be part of the forum and requested that my account be deleted*, and now they're having a post-mortem where they're all talking about how much they hate me and all sorts of other petty crap.

Compared to that forum, this one is a haven of tranquility. I hereby officially resolve to only ever go on forums for musicians about music, because there at least there's a common thread of discussion and any disagreements can be put down to "it's just a matter of personal taste".

*Actually what happened was the administrators decided that for some unfathomably childish reason they weren't going to ban me, so in the end I had to resort to circumventing the swear filter in a post, so they had to, which of course is yet another reason for them to act all superior. Some people are just idiots.
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Never ask an Admin on a website to ban you... You are wasting theirs and your time. Be the bigger man an just walk away, delete the site from your bookmarks and favorites. If you can't stay away, then I'm sorry for you on that.

I like to think that this is a very friendly and clean forum, for the most part it is clean and friendly, politics and some other subjects are a no no and we don't need to talk about them here either.

So lets keep this topic "on topic" and not fight. Okay? I'm good with that right there. Thank you Brian for the suggestion.

nguideau · Post by **nguideau** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 3:54 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by airforce_brian
 If you are really concerned about the volume, why don't you check out the Badger 30?

30 watts is definitely enough, and it can still be driven hard enough to hit the sweet spot.
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Yes, very good point. 30W, for my use, is the perfect amount of power. At loud volumes you won't get perfect cleans, but pretty clean with just a bit of dust and dirt. That's my style -- it doesn't suit anyone. But frankly if you need perfect chimey cleans at any volume, you really should just pick up a Twin Reverb RI and call it a day. Great amps, fair price, clean for light years.

Muffin Man · Post by **Muffin Man** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:28 pm

haha sometimes i think i'm living on another planet

. I recently traded a Rocker 30 combo in because it was too loud!

In answer to the original question posted by ilovepie - No, in my opinion there is no downfall for having a mic'd, lower watt amp for bigger live shows. As you already know; tube amps sound great cranked up.

I have never had a problem with the AD15 not being loud enough on stage to know how i sound. If that were the case i reckon i would have lost my hearing a long time ago. I do find that getting the amp off the floor by sitting it on a stool or chair helps give a more accurate sound when mic'd. When the amp is on the floor and you are standing, the sound you hear is a lot different to what the mic hears.

MaxRossell · Post by **MaxRossell** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:37 am

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by CD9266
 
Never ask an Admin on a website to ban you... You are wasting theirs and your time. Be the bigger man an just walk away, delete the site from your bookmarks and favorites. If you can't stay away, then I'm sorry for you on that.
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Not exactly like that - My account on that site comes attached to a band subforum. I didn't ask them to ban me, but rather to delete my account, as in remove the references attached to it, website URLs, contact details and so on, that I no longer wished to have associated with the site (it used to be a very nice board, good for promotion and talking about music and so on, recently it's just turned into a vacuous free-for-all full of inane crap, and the few remaining musicians are treated as a lame joke).

I had to get them to ban me, which accomplishes the same thing, because they refused to perform the fairly straightforward administrative action I reasonably requested from them.

Wattage Question??

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