Can You Crank Your Amp?

[lex666]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I've got a Marshall TSL602 on top of a TSLC212 2x12 cab...

I've only 1 neighbor next door, and 1 neighbor on the the other side of a cement wall behind me, so I get to crank that baby up on a daily basis. My home is pretty much surrounded on 3 sides with this 5 foot cement wall which really helps the noise from travelling and disturbing the neighbors. I keep my amp in my living room/home theater and often crank my home theater really loud too. Every once in a while, I'll put on an AC/DC DVD or something and jam along! Its like playing in front of 50,000 people with the band backing you...

Anyways, I get my Marshall cookin' up to around 7 or 8 (2:00) on the MV. Its VERY LOUD!! But thats hittin' the sweet spot. :smokin:


Can't wait to get a Mesa and see what that will do...

 

[StratTom]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I can't crank my amp without using my hotplate. However, anymore I feel like it's not even worth it because even when I want good tones with the attenuator, it's still too loud. Lately I've been using my Toneport and headphone alot.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I am very fortunate.... I have really cool neighbors and my wife really doesn't mind. I have a Bogner Shiva a Super reverb and a Deluxe Reverb at home. I play mostly thru the Bogner and I practice at GIG levels. If I can't play it right (meaning I am practicing on my tone) I would rather play acoustic (which I do a lot early in the AM or late at night). IF you are working on tone you have to get the tubes hot, to do that you gotta crank it at least some. When I rehearse with the band I use a Marshall 900 50W conbo. Some thing it has to get loud to get it to sound right and if you are attemting to balance the PA you have to get up to GIG level, otherwise when you are at a GIG everything and everybody is constantly twisting knobs trying to get the sound to be balanced and with good tone!

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I am very fortunate.... I have really cool neighbors and my wife really doesn't mind. I have a Bogner Shiva a Super reverb and a Deluxe Reverb at home. I play mostly thru the Bogner and I practice at GIG levels. If I can't play it right (meaning I am practicing on my tone) I would rather play acoustic (which I do a lot early in the AM or late at night). IF you are working on tone you have to get the tubes hot, to do that you gotta crank it at least some. When I rehearse with the band I use a Marshall 900 50W conbo. Some thing it has to get loud to get it to sound right and if you are attemting to balance the PA you have to get up to GIG level, otherwise when you are at a GIG everything and everybody is constantly twisting knobs trying to get the sound to be balanced and with good tone!

I think you've brought up an excellent point. If you're trying to nail the tone for something you're planning on gigging with, you need to be practicing at (or near) gigging levels. That's yet another problem for many folks with high-wattage amps.

- Keith

 

[Rushfan2112]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I can crank my Blues Junior from 3:30-6:00 PM. My parents aren't home and my neighbors don't mind.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

Well I like my amps clean....there are not alot of tubeamps with very pleasent sounds, when they get loud and distorts.
The most nice amp for that crispy slightly breakup sound, are two amps really, my AC-15 clone and the CM Customshop50 head.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I think you've brought up an excellent point. If you're trying to nail the tone for something you're planning on gigging with, you need to be practicing at (or near) gigging levels. That's yet another problem for many folks with high-wattage amps.

That was one of the things I liked about my Line 6 amp....it tended to act the same unless it was really throttled down or so loud that the room I was practicing in made playing ANYTHING at that volume near impossible.

But overwhelmingly I really felt like it wasn't until I was playing at those levels regularly that I really "knew" the amp and what it was capable of.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

Sometimes for a little while at reasonable hours. Never had a complaint from a neighbor yet thank goodness. Usually I use my Line 6 Vetta and Univox 50 watt non-master with a Plexitone, but lately a few non-master Marshalls and a coupla 50 watt masters cranked to about 3:00 have made a special appearance. :laughing:

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

When I bought the 120W Bogner XTC head, it was so I could essentially have 3 classic amps in one tidy package. It's got a great master volume and switches to lower it's headroom so I can use it with a 2-12 cab anywhere. If I want volume, it's got that in spades. I could literally punch all 4 speakers out of a 4-12 if I wanted to. When I bought it, I was playing large clubs, amphitheatres, and outdoor venues where I could turn it up with a 4-12 cab. Now, I'm putting together a new band, so it's used at a rehearsal studio mostly.

For home use, I use mostly the Valvetronix 60W head on a Bogner 2-12, and it's easily the best practice rig I've ever had.

My collectible tube amps like the Gibson, Matchless, and Jubilee are usually played at regular volumes with my Klon OD to give them a more cranked sound. When I get the chance to turn those up loud, I'm reminded of how great they are.......at some point, when I buy my own house, I'll be able to appreciate those amps more. They don't get cranked as often as I'd like. As investments, they're too valuable to risk gigging with them. One big ding could knock $1000 of their value.

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

At home... i cant realy get it more than 0.001 lol :eek13:, so i use head phones and a pandora unit to mess arround at home 90% of the time.

Rehersal... It varies depending on tons of things since theres annother guitarist... but i generaly HAVE TO crank my JTM-45 to get it sounding great and loud enough not to get buried by the other guitar.. and since i play leads its kinda important.. it generaly varies betwen 4/2.5 to 6/4 (note that i jump the channels and what i meant was, "High Treble/Normal" channel) if i get it higher than that it doesnt realy get any louder... just more "dirty" with that sweet marshallesk crunch wich is cool but i dont get a clean enough sound for when i need to play cleans... normaly i would crank it a little higher and use the volume knob to clean up but the other bastard (whos my long time friend.. he knows hes a bastard lol) plays to loud and has a digital pedal board and crap that lets him crank up the clean to pearcing shrill highs that just cut trough your ear drums :laugh2: so i gotta jugle alot with my amp and few stompboxes lol... diry or cleaner... the JTM just sounds great when cranked up. At low volumes it looses "character"

 

[liono9]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

i have a Vox AD50vt which i regularly crank and i mean each time i play the volume is at half or more cuz i play in my basement which i rent exclusively for that purpose.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I use a 30w Mesa Blue Angel and a 30/40w Victoria Double Deluxe. The Mesa gets pushed over halfway on the non-master volume dial every week at rehearsal and at gigs. The Victoria also gets either slightly pushed or very pushed, depending on the gig.

Overall, I find 30-40 watt amps are excellent for getting a cranked power stage at a drummer-friendly volume, though at larger venues I have to lean on the monitor system.

I do want to get a larger wattage amp of some kind shortly, so can have the option of more push and tightness if I desire, particularly at larger festival gigs, where I prefer to hear amp rather than monitor if I can. I'm thinking around the 50w class AB area.

At home I generally play into the Victoria at low volumes, and use pedals for gain. I also have a 5 watt-ish 60s tube hifi amp that has been converted for guitar use, and that gets some use as well. I'm looking at a small modelling amp or pod type thing as well, but that's more for recording purposes.

 

[jerryjg]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

This litle 1x12 class A 'fatboy' will crank at absolutely the right volumes for my small house. Im in the middle of nowhere after 5pm, so I can get real loud and this sweet baby deosnt need to get deafening, but can get such awesone tone at LOUD , but not too loud range.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

Peavey 5150, 120W, Mesa 4x12 cabinet, in a large attic, sweet spot is at about 3-3.5. I also should mention I have one of those Auralex GAMMA pads underneath the 4x12.

I'm able to hit it regularly, just gotta wait until people aren't in the room directly under the attic (master bedroom).

 

[Marinblues]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I play my Engl at minimum volume.

I can crank my POD as much as I like.

M.

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I live on 1/2 an acre, in a neighborhood where all the lots are 1/2 acre. I crank my 50 Watt Mesa whenever the hell I please.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I'm playing a lot of clean stuff at the moment. Right now I'm playing Fender Strat -> Marshall DSL401. I can get my great clean tones as low as 9.00. When I play distorted, I can get good-ish Deep Purple sorts of tones at about 10/11.00. I haven't tried it cranked for long enough yet. About a week before I got this amp, new neighbors moved in, and guess what? They have a newborn baby. I never usually get home from Uni until about 6/7.

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

the budda goes from off-->too loud for my apt-->too loud for our drummer.

seriously at 9:00 no one else in th band can hear anything and it takes me 10 min to set the volume so that the power tubes get the right amount of juice (for bedroom playing).

only took the budda to band practice a few times and the line 6s (100w into 4x12s) had problems keeping up. now the drummer + singer are studying abroad in Australia but as soon as they come back the chaos will continue.....

 

[Mephis]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

I crank my 6505 constantly. It works fine at bedroom levels but it sounds best between 2 and 7. (2 can bury my classic 50 at max volume lol.)

Just got done playing around 2 and our guests were complainging about it being too loud downstairs on the other side of the house.

Damn I like this amp's semi-cleans.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Can You Crank Your Amp?

With the exception of when my wife is home, I can play as loud as I please quite often. It's one of the many perks of living in the country.