Dr.Mavashi
neonderthalotonalogist
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?
LiteMass is your friend.
LiteMass is your friend.
Like I said, "50 watts should be plenty".
And if you crank it, 50 watts is plenty of watts to make yourself go deaf.
Tell me you needed 100 watts twenty years from now when YOU'RE deaf.
Because you will be.
Kids. You tell 'em not to smoke tobacco because in 30 or 40 years they'll be on oxygen dying of lung cancer. Do they listen? Nope.
Kids. You tell 'em not to overindulge in alcohol because in 30 or 40 years their liver will be hard as rock and they'll be dying from cirrhosis of the liver. Do they listen? Nope.
Kids. You tell 'em all they really need is a 25 watt or maybe a 40 watt amp and that if they consistently crank even that, in 30 or 40 years they'll still go deaf and be unable to hear what their wife is saying to them from across a small table in a slightly noisy restaurant. Do they listen? Nope.
So go ahead. Crank up that 100 watt amp...at home. When you actually take it out on a gig and try to turn it up, the bartender or club owner will tell you to turn it down - or tell you to leave.
Because they will. Simple as that.
If I'm playing a venue with a PA, I'd accept that challenge, otherwise no.
There's more than just wattage to consider here when talking about an amp that is going to be played out. In my hometown, PA systems were non-existent unless the band brought their own, unfortunately. That meant that my 45 watt VHT had to be cranked up pretty loud to keep up with a drummer and a bass player with an 8x10 cab and powerful amp of his own, and sometimes it still didn't give me enough cut.
If I'm playing a venue with a PA, I'd accept that challenge, otherwise no.
:
100 watt amp turned up to 1 on the master than the preamp cranked to get grind...
Kids Lewguitar gives good advice. I've played bunches of clubs and a number of larger venues (including outdoor sheds) and if you're using a Marshall 50 watts is plenty. In fact it is too much in most clubs. If for some reason you play in tight quarters with a loud drummer then work on your speaker cab placement. I find that in most situations a 2x12 sitting on a roadcase is far better than a 4x12 on the floor.
A few weeks ago I played a gig in a large ballroom with a drummer that literally pounds the crap out of his DW kit. My rig for the gig? A 15 watt Matchless Lightning clone that I built and a 2x12 THD cab. It was a ska gig (Not what I usually play) in front of a couple thousand people. I played the amp right on the edge of clean and slightly overdriven and it was perfect. Yes, it was miked but I could hear it just fine and the audience could hear it without getting their heads torn off by a high wattage amp. Even in a smaller venue without being miked the amp would have been fine.
Having owned a several Marshalls and played through a bunch of rented Marshalls I can tell you that 100 watts is overkill in almost every instance. The guys who insist on 100 watts are sort of the guitar amp equivalent of the dudes that drive around in full size trucks that have six inch lifts and huge tires. You just know those guys are compensating for something. Most of them would actually be better off with a stock Toyota Tacoma but you can't tell them that. Instead they drive like idiots and annoy the hell out of everyone that has to share the road with them.
The biggest problem with 100 watt amps (and even 50 watters in a lot of venues) is that you can't get the amp to its sweet spot without cranking it up to the point where it's too loud for the room. To the guys that proclaim the need to have a ton of clean headroom I say you're probably using the wrong amp. Marshalls aren't known for their cleans. Get something that sounds great clean (Fender, Matchless, Bad Cat, Dr. Z, or even a used Ampeg Reverberocket) and use it as the basis for your sound. I've found that if I'm using pedals for my overdrive and distortion then a Matchless DC30 set up clean will sound far better than a Marshall set up clean and will also sound better with your pedals. The DC30 is a LOUD amp and will keep up with any drummer. Even better it has a half power switch in case 30 watts is too much.
I see a lot of you guys referring to the cleans. The stuff I'm playing at the moment requires NO clean tones. I don't want a Marshall for cleans....I want that signature growling distortion.
I'm playing the darkest, heaviest metal you can think of.
50 watts still the way to go then?
Why doesn't Marshall offer anything other than 50 and 100 watts?
Some things, you just have to learn from experience. Maybe rent a 50 watter and a 100 watter and find out what you really need. My experience with 100 watt amps is that I have to play them with the volume turned so low that they cannot achieve that huge sound we all love. It's not 1970 anymore - there are other ways to get a huge grinding tone besides sheer volume. There's some great pedals.
My opinion is that 50 watts should be plenty unless you're opening for Van Halen or Ozzy!
The thing with trying to gig with an amp that's to powerful for the gigs you're actually playing (actually playing - not fantasizing about playing!) is that you feel self conscious, frustrated and can't play your best because you can't get your tone because you can't turn the amp up loud enough so that it's working hard.
I see a lot of you guys referring to the cleans. The stuff I'm playing at the moment requires NO clean tones. I don't want a Marshall for cleans....I want that signature growling distortion.
I'm playing the darkest, heaviest metal you can think of.
50 watts still the way to go then?
Why doesn't Marshall offer anything other than 50 and 100 watts?
The biggest problem with 100 watt amps (and even 50 watters in a lot of venues) is that you can't get the amp to its sweet spot without cranking it up to the point where it's too loud for the room. To the guys that proclaim the need to have a ton of clean headroom I say you're probably using the wrong amp. Marshalls aren't known for their cleans. Get something that sounds great clean (Fender, Matchless, Bad Cat, Dr. Z, or even a used Ampeg Reverberocket) and use it as the basis for your sound. I've found that if I'm using pedals for my overdrive and distortion then a Matchless DC30 set up clean will sound far better than a Marshall set up clean and will also sound better with your pedals. The DC30 is a LOUD amp and will keep up with any drummer. Even better it has a half power switch in case 30 watts is too much.
I see a lot of you guys referring to the cleans. The stuff I'm playing at the moment requires NO clean tones. I don't want a Marshall for cleans....I want that signature growling distortion.
Marshalls most of us have used and loved have EL-34 output tubes. A good output transformer and a pair of EL-34's puts out 40 (or 50) watts. A quartet of EL-34's puts out about 80 (or 100) watts. EL-34's are the Marshall tone, IMO. And you can't use just three to get 60 watts - doesn't work that way.Why doesn't Marshall offer anything other than 50 and 100 watts?