Re: Is 30 Watts Enough?
You can get by with the right 30w tube amp in most reasonable band applications, but don't expect clean headroom. Your cleans will suffer in the process, plain and simple. In my last band, I used a Crate V32 Palomino for a little bit and it cut pretty well, although the cleans were slightly overdriving at full gigging volume.
People that say you can get by with 15w amps either know of really good venues that mic everything and have good sound engineers or are delusional. Good luck getting a 15w amp to cut through a loud drummer; with a loud drummer, you'll be wanting atleast 30w tube.
Playing live, I really appreciate the 80w I have on tap with my amplifier. I never fully open it up (I don't need it to sound killer and really, most tube amps sound the best in my opinion about half opened up), but I really like having that kind of power to use if I need it and I have run into instances where I have needed it. People may say it's overkill, but when they complain about their cleans not staying articulate and sweet at fully opened volumes, I tell them "told you so".
You can get by with the right 30w tube amp in most reasonable band applications, but don't expect clean headroom. Your cleans will suffer in the process, plain and simple. In my last band, I used a Crate V32 Palomino for a little bit and it cut pretty well, although the cleans were slightly overdriving at full gigging volume.
People that say you can get by with 15w amps either know of really good venues that mic everything and have good sound engineers or are delusional. Good luck getting a 15w amp to cut through a loud drummer; with a loud drummer, you'll be wanting atleast 30w tube.
Playing live, I really appreciate the 80w I have on tap with my amplifier. I never fully open it up (I don't need it to sound killer and really, most tube amps sound the best in my opinion about half opened up), but I really like having that kind of power to use if I need it and I have run into instances where I have needed it. People may say it's overkill, but when they complain about their cleans not staying articulate and sweet at fully opened volumes, I tell them "told you so".
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