50 watts or 100 watts?

Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Is your drummer mic'd?

bwaahahahahahahaha

By that I mean, sometimes, but in lots of places.... no.

In our favorite place to play here in Indy, we play sideways in a hallway-esque part of a room that fits about 100 people standing up and the whole joint is dark and scary and filthy and the walls are covered with stickers and posters and the remains of smashed instruments and blood and snot and bile.

One time after our set I went to the bathroom to pee and there was a human tooth in the urinal.

In this place, there are vocal mics and that it all. Micing anything else is pointless. Just crank up, make sure your drummer is playing like a man possessed, throttle down and go!

In a nice(r) place where there's a good PA and everything is mic'd up, we face our amps to the back of the stage to control stage volume but still get our tone how we want it.
 
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Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

One time after our set I went to the bathroom to pee and there was a human tooth in the urinal.

Wow. Someone had a rough night.


Speaking of good applications for 100w amps, has anyone here ever tried to play an outdoor gig without being miked by a PA? A 100W half-stack is IDEAL in that kind of a situation.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Speaking of good applications for 100w amps, has anyone here ever tried to play an outdoor gig without being miked by a PA? A 100W half-stack is IDEAL in that kind of a situation.

Yep. We played 3 outdoor gigs this past summer and thank God I still had my 4x12 cab. I ran my AD50VT through it and it was a good thing I did. Had to have it for some stage volume. We were also mic'd through the PA though. I don't see many outdoor gigs these days that don't mic everything. You almost have to.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Ok, the choice has been made.

I played the JVM410 and 205 back to back. I'm going with the 50 watt version for sure. It's a freaking ferocious beast! The growl is just what I was looking for!
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Ok, the choice has been made.

I played the JVM410 and 205 back to back. I'm going with the 50 watt version for sure. It's a freaking ferocious beast! The growl is just what I was looking for!

Hey man - glad to hear you got to make your mind up on the matter !

So, why did you take it over the 100watter then ?
What made the 50W one "better" in your eyes ?



James
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Hey man - glad to hear you got to make your mind up on the matter !

So, why did you take it over the 100watter then ?
What made the 50W one "better" in your eyes ?



James

Honestly....the price. lol

I had the amps both up about three quarters of the way. I didn't notice any distinct difference. I'm new to using Marshall, so I'm sure to the die hard fan the differences would be obvious. To me though, they were very similar.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Honestly....the price. lol

I had the amps both up about three quarters of the way. I didn't notice any distinct difference. I'm new to using Marshall, so I'm sure to the die hard fan the differences would be obvious. To me though, they were very similar.

GREAT :cool2:

New to Marshall ?
How is that ?
I mean, why did you move away from the 'other' brand that you used to use ?



James
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

GREAT :cool2:

New to Marshall ?
How is that ?
I mean, why did you move away from the 'other' brand that you used to use ?



James

The only tube amp I've ever owned that was adequate for the heavy music I play was a Crate Blue Voodoo. I got tired of that amp and I've always loved the tone from Marshall. So, when I say I'm new to Marshall, I mean I'm new to owning one. :)
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

I fell in love with the JVM the first time I played one. I went to GC right when they opened, and they let me really crank the sucker, since nobody was there yet. Played it wirelessly through an SG. Got great AC/DC and old-skool Aerosmith tones out of it. That was enough for me.

I'm jealous of your purchase, man. I'd probably go with the fifty-watter as well.

- Keith
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

The only tube amp I've ever owned that was adequate for the heavy music I play was a Crate Blue Voodoo. I got tired of that amp and I've always loved the tone from Marshall. So, when I say I'm new to Marshall, I mean I'm new to owning one. :)


Wow . . . what a jump !!!

From a Blue Voodoo to a JVM ! GOOD ONE !

Now we need pic's of it in your house, and clips if possible !




James
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

You really need to look for a used one. The head like I have goes for $2200. I bought mine for $1300.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

You really need to look for a used one. The head like I have goes for $2200. I bought mine for $1300.

As much as I'd like to do that, I hate to go used. If I go new I'll have warranty if there are any issues by some chance.

But, it still a thought though. I've seen a couple 205h on ebay for less than a grand.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Buy used....


....or have a buddy who works for GC and is willing to buy it on your behalf at their cost. ;) I would guess with the volume of business GC does for Marshall that the discount there is pretty deep.

It certainly worked out well for me.. Should I ever need to sell my latest amp (which I purchased brand new) I stand to make money on it.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Buy used....


....or have a buddy who works for GC and is willing to buy it on your behalf at their cost. ;) I would guess with the volume of business GC does for Marshall that the discount there is pretty deep.

It certainly worked out well for me.. Should I ever need to sell my latest amp (which I purchased brand new) I stand to make money on it.

Unfortunately for me, I have no friends at GC. Wish I did though!
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

...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.


It's not always a bad effect ;)

Lew, you're absolutely right anyway, it's the best advice some can get:

PROTECT YOUR EARS!!!!!

If you're a musician you'll need your ears. if you shock your ears with too much decibels, your nerves there will die slowly and they will stop working properly (or at all) after a time and you can't be a musician anymore. It's all up to your plans: how long do you want to play music? 10 years? 20? 30? 50 perhaps?


Back 2 the track:


On open stages clever placement and careful monitor mix is the key. Indoors it depends only on the actual room acoustics and an enjoyable sound (and volume levels) for the audience.


You can do the job with a 15W little tube amp if you put it the right place and 10 Marshall full stacks can kill your performance if they outmask the other instruments. THINK before act.


amps:

If it's a Vox AC and EL84 tubes, 30W power is more than enough. Cranked up all the way it will kill you. And, your indoors audience.


If it's an EL34 power amp, 50W should be enough. The power section will break sooner and basically that's what you need for a perfect Marshall crunch.


If it's a 6L6 power amp, 100 watts shoud do it, but NEVER CRANK IT UP ALL THE WAY!!! It will overkill your ears after a time. These power amps are usually about fine and mean preamp section and clean delivery, plus much headroom in the output stage.


In my experience if it's solid state you'll need 200+ watts, preferably MOSFET. It has nothing to do with volume, only tone. A 200W SS amp has enough headroom to sound good halfways ('bout 100W). Since SS power section has different characteristics from tube stuff, approx. about 60% of its power rating it starts to ruin its tone, partly because of the way you hear things, partly because of some unwanted enhanced transistor distortion that is omnipresent.
 
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Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

I'll definitely be getting hearing protection. I'm gonna spend the extra and get custom fitted plugs from the Audiologist.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

If you live long enough you will probably start having problems with your hearing at some point. My dad started having problems after he turned 75. Of course people from that generation didn't know the dangers and how to protect their hearing when they were younger. It more how long of period you are continously exposed to noise that can damage your hearing in the long run, we know now. That's actually a greater risk than a short term exposure to loud sounds. We don't have the same excuse as are elders because more is known today.

When I was in my 20's I made sure that I used hearing protection. Recently I had my hearing checked and was surprized to find that's it's perfect, even after playing through Marshalls for years. Of course that doens't mean I won't have problems later on. Hearing problems can also eventually occur regardless of how well you try and protect your ears, but better safe than sorry.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

50 will do it just fine. At that level of wattage you'd be hard pressed to find a difference decibel wise.
 
Re: 50 watts or 100 watts?

Look, people

I get so sick of this.

An amp is just a tool. You use the right tool for the job.

Despite the very fashionable "conventional wisdom" these days regarding tube amps, the tired old adage of "35 watts is plenty loud enough unless you're playing Wrigley Field with no PA" just isn't a generalization that holds true across the board... No matter how level-headed and experienced stating so makes you appear on a web forum.

1/2 of the gigs I play with my band are stoner/doom metal shows at filthy, wretched bars that....

....wait for it....

....DO NOT MIC THE GUITAR CABINETS BECAUSE THE PA IS SO DECREPIT AND POORLY MANNED THAT IT'S ONLY BARELY SERVICEABLE FOR VOCALS.

At most of these places, your stage volume = FOH and you and your rig are positioned within elbow-smacking distance of both your drummer and bass player. YOU MUST PLAY LOUD.

At the volumes I need at places like that, 50 watts is just barely enough to get the job done, and more because of headroom than actual volume. My tone is the result of a very careful and deliberate blend of preamp gain and poweramp saturation, and that balance tends to tip waaay too far in one direction if I need to get over my drummer and bass player using a 50 watt amp at most venues we play.

In fact, in our circles, 100 watt tube half stacks are just within the lower acceptable range of amplification status-quo. That's not to say there's no such thing as too loud... when we played with Indian last month, their guitarist was using a Sunn model T and some other crazy solid-state 300w Sunn through two Emperor 6x12 cabs and he was, in fact, way too effing loud, but my band running two 120 watt half stacks (one per guitar player) was just about right.

If your set contains a cover of "Cinnamon Girl," or your drummer has had hip replacement surgury, or people can order salads at the places you play, then enjoy the ease and practicality of your little combos.

If you play agressive metal in slimey dive bars that don't always mic everything and you need your low-end to hold together, consider the 100 watt head.

Marry me instead.
 
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