How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

V

Ventilator

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I may be crazy, but I really do like the sound of my old Fender Frontman 15R. I'd like to get the sound of that little amp, but make it louder; if for no other reason than to tinker with things.

I've read that the wattage rating doesn't determine volume, but it is the speakers that do. If I were to build my own amp cabinet with bigger speakers, then run the amp circuit from a Frontman 15R that I gut to them, would I be able to keep up with a full band going?

I haven't really looked into doing this yet, so I'm worried that I'll be overlooking something here. Something that will counteract what I'm going for. If anyone has any tips, suggestions, or pointers, let me know.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

ive got a pair of those in my studio at work! lol.
and re: different speakers....say you decide to use a 12 inch speaker - they do offer more bass etc, but they require more wattage to actually move the speaker far enough to reproduce those frequencies.
A lot of little ss amps are voiced specifially so they sound loud at certain frequencies (usually mid/treble end), and often the little speakers that go with them are voiced accordingly.
While its true that 1w can produce 100db at 1m with a 100db speaker...thats the peak db level at one certain peak frequency.
if you want to sound bigger in the bass end you need watts..theres no two ways about it. A speaker swap alone does not give you what you need.
So in all honesty, if you want your little 15R to be louder maybe you can use the same size speaker with more efficency...but youd be wasting your money...
For the price of building your own cab and putting in a nice speaker, you can buy any number of complete amps that will sound a thousand times better than the 15R for playing with a band.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

Actually you probably would be able to. I used to run one of the old Marshall Lead 12 solid state heads into a normal Marshal 4x12 that had G12T75's in it and it would work for band practice. I dont think it would work playing out. (Maybe Mic'd and with the guitar in the monitors it would work) But in the small room it was ok. But had to work the crap outta the amp to do it. Its really marginal. But with some high efficiency speakers maybe it could be done where the amp isnt working on the edge of meltdown
 
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Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

Edgecrusher said:
Actually you probably would be able to. I used to run one of the old Marshall Lead 12 solid state heads into a normal Marshal 4x12 that had G12T75's in it and it would work for band practice.
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You must have a quiet drummer cause when my Marshall blew i tried to use my Marshall 12 in the same way & i could barely here it.

If you like the sound of your Fender why not get a power amp & another cab or another amp & slave the fender into it?
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

With a mic and a PA it will probably go as loud as you want.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

Every time you double the speakers you get 3db
So same power into 2x speakers is the same as 2x the power into 1 speaker.
So....
Run the amp into (4) 4x12 with efficient speakers and you will be heard. About the same as a 50-60w SS amp into a 4x12. May not sound very good. Wont be a cheap option. Wont be very convenient. Should be loud.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

i'd be willing to bet that once you've changed the speakers and built a bigger cabinet and put the guts of your Frontman 15 in there, it's gona sound so fundamentally different from whatever you liked about it originally that you will no longer like it.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

If you like the tone from that amp and are looking to gig, why not just buy a Frontman 65? Those are more than loud enough to gig with and are relatively inexpensive.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

I had one of those amps when I started playing guitar too . . . they really can't hang with a drummer and bass player. It's a lot easier in the long run if you just buy a bigger/better amp.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

This is all really good advice.

I have a line 6 duo-verb combo amp for going loud. It just doesn't want to behave quite the same the way the little amp does. The getting loud enough to hang in a full band question I posed was more hypothetical.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

You could always buy like 6 of them for the price of a decent amp and then work some kind of signal splitting daisy chain thing to use them all simultaneously. . .

:P
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

Ventilator said:
This is all really good advice.

I have a line 6 duo-verb combo amp for going loud. It just doesn't want to behave quite the same the way the little amp does. The getting loud enough to hang in a full band question I posed was more hypothetical.
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Thats funny...ive had students bring in their cube 40s and fender gdecs that they loved so much in to the studio, and next to the humble little 15R they sound lame. They say "oooh thats a nice amp! what is it?" lol
Still....that doesnt mean im gonna try to gig with it!
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

That Frontman 65R might not be a bad option if I wanted to go loud. I've seen it before that people will mic a 15R and run it through the PA. The big problem I think of is that there might not always be enough room on a PA for the amp mic.

If the 65R is the same sound with more volume, then that would solve the problem. Gig power with the same sound and one less mic needed, plus it has a foot switch (bonus points for being a simple and uniquely designed switch.) It is also easier to haul than the duo-verb.

They seem to be a discontinued model at the moment, but some quick internet searches indicate that the price is $100 to $150 used, or $200 new in box from those with them still in inventory. I've heard of speakers that cost as much. Frankensteining a half-stack cab together so I can mess with parts just doesn't compare to those kind of numbers.
 
Re: How loud can you get with 15 watts solid state?

An amp rated at 15 watts isn't going to give you any more than 15 watts. But wattage and volume aren't the same thing. Mike Soldano once said that he'd rather have a 15 watt amp driving a 412 cabinet than a 100 watt amp driving one twelve inch speaker. Speakers determine volume. Watts determine your headroom. Keep in mind, too, that guitar amps are designed to run "full out", because that's where you get the natural overdrive, cone cry, etc.
 
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