Recomended wattage for gigging

[NoOnesFang13]

I'm in the market for a bass amp and I want to get an amp I can use live if needed, or even just with a loud drummer while jamming. I see a lot of 100w combos but I have seen in various places that some think 100w isn't enough. I'm looking at solid state amps, and would ideally be looking into Ashdown as I like the tone. Part of me is just thinking about looking into the Acoustic stuff since they are so affordable, but I only know of Jaco that played them and I'm not that kind of player and finding good bass amp demos online that aren't recorded with a cell phone or camera mic are almost impossible. Any ideas on the Wattage and recommendations would be welcome as well.

[jeremy]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

what kind of music and how big a gig without pa reinforcement? in small clubs i know a few guys who use an ampeg b100r for blues/rock gigs and it sounds great. if you are playing more aggressive styles or big venues without reinforcement, you probably want more power. maybe 200w+. i have two bass amps a 1000w ampeg and a 200w gk. between those two i can do anything i need. the ampeg could do it all but its heavy as hell to haul around for small gigs

[NoOnesFang13]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

I will prob play some heavy rock, some stuff with fuzz and whatnot, the drummer I know is into stuff like Royal Blood. I might end up playing metal but I play all kinds of music and have most of my experience on bass in jazz and funk. Based off what you said 200w should be enough?

[dystrust]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

For those styles 200W might be adequate, but you'll probably be pushing it a bit. longcat and I have an Ampeg B50R (50W 1x12) that sounds great, but it's really only loud enough for a coffee shop gig or similar. Our other amp is an Ampeg SVT 3Pro (275W @ 8ohms / 450W @ 4 ohms), and that's plenty loud into a reasonably efficient cab or two.

Regarding the Acoustic stuff you mentioned in your first post... The Acoustic amps made now are completely different from the ones played by John Paul Jones and Jaco Pastorius back in the 70s. That company disappeared in the late 70s or early 80s, while the new ones are made by an entirely different company that bought the rights to the name. They also seem to be targeted pretty exclusively at the budget market, so I wouldn't expect much in terms of durability or speaker efficiency.

[NoOnesFang13]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

I ended up picking up an Ashdown RM C112-220 a 200w 1x12 combo new on reverb for $199. Thanks for the advice. Good thing my bonus was $250 and its like I got an amp for free as far as I'm concerned... my wife thinks otherwise, but oh well

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[ItsaBass]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

The wattage of the amp will largely determine how clean you can get it at a certain volume. More wattage (say 2x more) equals the ability to get a cleaner tone at the same volume. A lot more wattage (say 4x to 8x more) equals the ability to get a cleaner tone, *and* be louder. If you never really need to play that cleanly, you don't need a ton of wattage. 200W solid state is a good middle-of-the-road number that provides a decent balance of cleanliness and volume (and definitely cuts it if you will always be piped through a nice sound system when you play).

The speaker array you use goes a long way toward determining volume. Using a single speaker, you are not maximizing the volume potential of the amp, no matter what amp you're piping through it. A vertical stack of two identical speakers is noticeably louder and more "present" than a single speaker cab, or a single speaker combo.

One 4x10, two 2x10's, or two 1x15's are each a good setup that cover a lot of ground. The 4x10 would cover most things all the time, but it's bulkier. Not good if you have a smaller car, or can't lift a bulky, somewhat heavy cab. Two 2x10's allows you to run either two or four 10's, depending on your needs for the gig. Same with the two 1x15's.

A 200W solid state head through one of these cab setups would cover most things (as long as the tone controls on the head are excellent).

It is generally not ideal to mix and match different speaker sizes (or even types) for bass, because you can get weird dead spots in the room by doing so – spots where your bass' volume just seems to drop way lower than in other spots. You certainly can mix and match, as plenty have done and continue to do, but it's not ideal. Point being, if going with a two cab setup, two identical cabs is recommended (by me, as well as many others).

I lived and gigged for a long time (20+ years) with an Ampeg B-100R as my only amp. 100W solid state, 1x15 combo with no external speaker jack. Nothing has ever sounded better to me in terms of raw tonal ability, but man, unless there was a decent PA and sound man, that thing was always pushed past its reasonable limits, and still wasn't loud enough sometimes. I mostly played it unmiked, pushed way too hard. I don't know how nothing has ever broken on it. I still have it, and play it whenever it cuts it volume-wise. But I did just add an 800W head and several cabs to take over the bulk of my gigging duties. I think I would have been fine with 400W or 500W, but my friend got me a good deal on the amp, so I just went for the most deluxe model in the lineup.

[ErikH]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

When I was piecing together my bass rig, I had these same questions and talked with a bass playing friend of mine (and former bandmate). I ended up with an Ampeg PF500 head and ran that DI to the PA at rehearsals until I got my cab, which is a GK CX410. If you're patient, as I was, you can score killer deals on the used market. I almost went with a 1x15 cab but glad I have the 410. I've got plenty of clean headroom and thump. Have something to lift the front end off the floor if necessary. On certain stages, the cabinet can couple with the stage and turn the whole thing in to a rumbling speaker box. I solved that problem at a gig with a roll of duct tape holding the front end off the floor. Now, I have 2 hockey pucks to do the job.

[DavidRavenMoon]

Recomended wattage for gigging

More power equals more headroom and a punchier low end.

I have a ridiculously heavy Mesa 400+ and wanted something smaller and lighter. At the time I was playing with a cover band with their own PA, so it’s mostly for hearing myself on stage.

So I picked up a used Trace Elliot combo. It was 150 watts, so I was stepping down power wise (the Mesa is about 300 watts). But it was a very loud 150 watts!

But on some larger stages or outdoor gigs I was having trouble getting enough stage volume.

So I picked up a Hartke LH500 and a 4x10 cab. It’s 350 watts with one cab. That was usually loud enough to drown out the whole 6 piece band. Lol. They had a very loud drummer too.

Great sounding head too. It’s a class A tube preamp based roughly on a Fender Dual Showman with a clean power amp. Kind of an Alembic preamp setup in a box. The new smaller 600 watt class D amp is really nice too. And not very expensive!

So I’d say you should go for at least 300 watts.


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[ErikH]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

Nice setup there, Dave.

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

Now, I have 2 hockey pucks to do the job.

A positive unintended consequence of Dallas poaching the North Stars!

[ErikH]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

A positive unintended consequence of Dallas poaching the North Stars!

I'm not a big Stars fan really. I follow them because I live here but the Penguins are my team.

[jeremy]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

when i lived in hartford, ct i used to go to whalers games frequently. have always been a rangers fan but for $10 it was worth it every time

[Demanic]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

If I knew that the place had a sound system, I'd bring my Microcube. If not, I'd prefer at least 50 watts through a 2x12. Really, I'd be bringing 100 watt 1/2 stack.


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[jeremy]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

for bass?

[ErikH]

Re: Recomended wattage for gigging

for bass?

Only if playing Motorhead. And then, it has to be 2 full stacks.