Anyone gig with a small combo??

Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

Benjy_26 said:
Headroom.

If you play clean most of the time (like me), 12-20 watts just won't cut it. I don't blast the volume, but a 60-100w tube amp is where it's at for me. :14:
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So if I took my 60w combo and put a mic in front of it, the only thing I should be worried about is the monitors being crap?
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

I mainly use a fender princeton reverb 2 - 20 watts 1x12 all tube. Works for any gig. I mic. it up for outdoor fesivals or big rooms with lots of people (i.e. more than 200)
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

So I am sitting here in my basement, and I felt like reminding myself of what my amp at the 5w setting can do. I turned the gain up to about 2-3, and the volume about noon. I could jam with a drummer with this.

Now, to flip the switch to 30 watts, and try it again. :)
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

i've done a lot of gigs with a sf deluxe reverb. great amp for small shows & if you can mike it its good for large room as well. 22wats but killer tone. I need a better speaker in mine to give me more headroom. Going with a vintage 30 from ENGLAND.
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

Diego said:
So if I took my 60w combo and put a mic in front of it, the only thing I should be worried about is the monitors being crap?
Click to expand...

Theoretically, yes. It all depends on what tone you're going for. Some people get GREAT tones using small amps, but they're not MY tones. For me, a pair of sout 12's being driven (cleanly, for the most part) by big, glass bottles makes me happy. YMMV.

That's the beauty of music. There is no wrong or right. Except for boy bands. They are very, very wrong. :nana:
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

Benjy_26 said:
Theoretically, yes. It all depends on what tone you're going for. Some people get GREAT tones using small amps, but they're not MY tones. For me, a pair of sout 12's being driven (cleanly, for the most part) by big, glass bottles makes me happy. YMMV.

That's the beauty of music. There is no wrong or right. Except for boy bands. They are very, very wrong. :nana:
Click to expand...

You will be reading the later part of that statement in my sig.
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

some_dude said:
The downside is that you're pretty much dependant on the monitors. Not an issue if the monitors/soundman are decent, but in some clubs the monitors are either crap, blown, or simply not there.
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I never run my mic'd amp signal back through monitors. Just about everyone else on the stage has my guitar through their send, but I don't have it in mine, just what I'm hearing from the amp. Super Champs are notoriously loud relative to their size, so it's not like what you'd expect from such a small amp.



Cheers....................................... wahwah
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

yeah, i never have my amp in my monitor...my amp is a monitor! usually it is where a normal monitor is, in front, facing up at me.
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

The only problem with small amps is that you are at the mercy of the soundman...

Most of the time they would be happy to amplify a smaller and simpler to handle amp but sometimes due to a crappy board or a crappy soundman you might find yourself wanting something bigger that would run over everything.

I'm pretty happy at the lower weight, wattage amp world... I'm looking forward for the Windsor Studios to arrive to stores here. On paper, with a few tweaks, they are all that I need.
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

Essentially it all boils down to how much equip / power / whatever you need to feel comfortable and have a usable tone.

I´ve played gigs where I was forced to go directly to the house PA, there my V-twin was a Godsend.

I´ve also played gigs where the amps were supplied by the organization. These have been mixed experiences, from having a 20 watt combo to having 2 fullstacks, depending on what they thought was necessary as well as what may have been sponsored by others. Usually in those situations you´ll be getting what is "standard" for the type of music to be played, usually a Marshall halfstack of some sort for rock and metal shebangs and a fender twin or twin reverb for cleaner stuff and most blues events.
Most of these events you will most definitely have a PA capable of making even a 1 watt mini Marshall more than loud enough (and actually not half bad). They generally get the big amps for the image and not the air pushing capacity.

And of course there are the more typical "Bring your own kit" gigs. Here it´s a question of venue. If there´s an actual stage and the place fits more than 5-600 people, the halfstack is in the bus because I don´t know what PA if at all I´ll be facing, and it´s better to have too much power on tap than to not have enough. Smaller than that and I´ll probably get by with the combo, because then there`s also the likelihood that there won´t be an actual stage and that als makes the combo more viable in multiple ways becasue it´s easier to transport and has a smaller footprint.
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

i use a 36 watt 1x12 and people (usually chicks, dunno if thats relevant) often comment on how loud i am. i also like it when guys with the tattooed crossed arms in the front with stone faces look confused when i hit my first heavy rhythm picking phrases. you can do heavy and loud with a small combo, thats for sure
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

chicks tend to hear more high end than guys (and are usually more *****y)
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

Bludave said:
i've done a lot of gigs with a sf deluxe reverb. great amp for small shows & if you can mike it its good for large room as well. 22wats but killer tone. I need a better speaker in mine to give me more headroom. Going with a vintage 30 from ENGLAND.
Click to expand...

I had second row seats to Kansas in the Brenden Byrne arena, at least 20k seats, and the one guitar player (Rich something or other) was using a Blackface Deluxe propped up on a chair. Pretty cool, huh?
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

in May i have a small gig at a local highschool... me and some co-workers are going to play 3 rock songs for the kids... Schools Out By Alice Cooper, Rockin In The Free World- the Neil Young Tune, and an ACDC tune called DT....

should be interesting.... i'm debating about what gear to use... i'm thinking my 5150 head and a 1x12 cab... then on the other hand i'm thinking my C30 combo and some pedals... not sure what to do...
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

The downside is that you're pretty much dependant on the monitors. Not an issue if the monitors/soundman are decent, but in some clubs the monitors are either crap, blown, or simply not there.
Click to expand...
true alot of venues have monitors that can barely reproudce vocals loud enough. Also if the stage is small I have found that to get the guitar loud enough you get drum spill on the accents sometimes causing clipping on the mixer that where a louder amp is needed. Alot of times though my 15 watter into a 2x12 cab is too loud for the stage (when drums are unmiked).
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

WhoFan said:
in May i have a small gig at a local highschool... me and some co-workers are going to play 3 rock songs for the kids... Schools Out By Alice Cooper, Rockin In The Free World- the Neil Young Tune, and an ACDC tune called DT....

should be interesting.... i'm debating about what gear to use... i'm thinking my 5150 head and a 1x12 cab... then on the other hand i'm thinking my C30 combo and some pedals... not sure what to do...
Click to expand...

SG, 30 foot cable, 100w Super Lead Plexiglass and a pair of Marshall 4x12s.
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

On a side note, the best live sound I've ever heard was a guitarist using a Strat, Phase 90 and 30w Matchless into a Marshall 2x12 propped up on a box.

The venue was a medium sized pub... probably 80 person seating capacity plus pool table and a bar area that took up a little under 1/4 of the venue.

The guitarist, drums and Hammond were all unmic'd. Through the house PA was the vocals, bass (DI) and sax. The kick drum was also reinforced through the PA, but it was very mild. The band had no monitors aside from the house PA.

Anyway, like I said... it was the best live sound I think I've ever heard. PA systems are great, but there's something about them that's kind of... I donno... flat sounding. I think it comes from taking a band's worth of instruments and vocals, and trying to force them out in mono. There was definitely something very cool about being able to turn your head or move across the room and hear the stereo image of a band unmic'd.

It also helped that it was a killer band that knew how to lay back in the pocket while no player stepped out when it wasn't his turn.
 
Re: Anyone gig with a small combo??

So I am still leaning towards a Trademark 30.. what is the equivilant of 30w SS into tube watts? (And what is the general level of tube wattage people think is required for smaller shows? some people here said 12w is fine, others say you need 60+)

I dunno. blah.
 
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