How often do you see full stacks

idsnowdog said:
Many of the venues around me have a 50 watt limit and they won't let you through the door with anything more because they don't want bands blasting their audiences. If you can't get a decent tone at 30 watts you have a crappy amp and a microphone that has enough sensitivity to amplify acoustic instruments doesn't need to be fed by a 100 watt stack.
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Then they are idiots and don't know what they are doing! Some of the best very low volume tones I have ever gotten were with 50 to 100 watt amps. Some of the most uncontrollable amps I have ever played in volume were 5 to 20 watt amps. That is a totally idiotic policy! I have played a 100 watt Carvin Clubmaster and a JCM 900 Mark III Marshall Dual master 50 watt 1/12 combo in small churches and got great super low volume tones. If you can't get a solid very low volume tone out of most modern high wattage amps you flat don't know what you are doing. I prefer 30 to 50 watt amps at the least because of the bottom end response and headroom. If a venue is so anal and stupid as to not work with me without seeing what I can do with my rig I don't need to deal with the idiots.
 
I went to a large arena metal show last night (NBA size arena) and was checking out all the tour rigs back stage behind the LED walls, lighting rigs, pyro and large set elements.... all guitarists had half stacks maximum, mostly smaller amps mic'd and DI'd and a mix of profilers.

Everyone was getting their tone to the sound reinforcement without stacks or gear all over the place these days.
 
NegativeEase said:
Everyone was getting their tone to the sound reinforcement without stacks or gear all over the place these days.
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Mike Campbell plays arenas and he gets his lead tone from a 13-watt Fender Excelsior. I love the tone mine has I wish I had the sound reinforcement to use it at a live gig. Hit that amp with any type of boost/EQ/overdrive and it sings.

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I have a couple I can go down and see in my basement. They do not get much use anymore. I would drag a half stack to the pink benefit gig, but they are waiting one more year to start it back up.
 
IMO, if full stacks were more common guitarists probably wouldn’t be as loud and they wouldn’t dial in as much ear splitting treble.
 
I did sound once for Mothership ( I love DOOOOOOOOOMMMM ) and this is what they brought!!!!!
 

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i mean that sure as hell looks like rock n roll to me. betcha is sounds great too. also glad i dont have to carry it. whats up with the orange micd behind the sunn stuff?
 
jeremy said:
i mean that sure as hell looks like rock n roll to me. betcha is sounds great too. also glad i dont have to carry it. whats up with the orange micd behind the sunn stuff?
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I wish I could remember. It was a heavy metal night and Mothership was the headliner, so it may have just been the openers setup. I can clearly remember when Mothership started dragging everything in! I was blown away... They certainly delivered too. They were heavy and really a cool bunch of guys. The other bands that night just didn't stand out. Kinda hard with that wall on the stage.
 
Hardly anymore, 1/2 stacks are more the norm but some big outdoor shows I seem them getting dragged out.

I sold my 4x12 off I use it so rarely. I have a 1960 cab setup as a 1961 2x12 and a 4x10 that I'll use with my 5150 or Dual Terror head but lately I mostly use my Fender Bassbreaker 15 combo pushing an additional 1x12 cab. I does get a little lost on a big stage sometimes if the monitors aren't up to it but such is life.I am looking for something with a little more HP but nothing shocking probably a Boogie Fillmore 25 maybe a 50 if I am feeling bold since it cuts to 25, keeps it somewhat tame but I can unleash the hounds when need be.

On the occasions that I have had to use only my Headrush I haven't really been that pleased, getting good monitor mixes takes time that usually isn't allotted for.
 
I use TWO 2X12's stacked with my Soldano and get nothing but compliments when i play out.
It's like a midsize stack, the top 2X12 speakers hit at the heart level which is perfect for me because it doesn't blow my ears out like full size stacks do ripping your face off.
And they're both loaded with EVM12L speakers. :D
 
I was watching a youtube video last year with Rhett Shull and he was talking about being a hired gun/touring guitarist for a lot of acts and the gear that's being used in these shows. He said he'd LOVE to use his bigger amps but basically stated that for most of the acts he's supporting if he were to show up with a half stack he'd probably get fired before playing a single note ("They'd say, 'looks like we're not going to need you today', and send me home"). Basically he's either using a small combo or ampless pretty much everywhere.

It's an interesting experience playing out these days. A lot of the time you have no sound guy (venues don't want to pay one), and when you do they have trended more and more toward demanding total control over the stage volume.
 
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i played a festival a few weeks back, using my old deluxe reverb as usual. i got there early, as ya should, and when the foh guy had a sec i asked him if i could turn the amp up and aim it a bit to the side or if hed prefer if i kept the stage volume down. he was fine with it and big thanks for asking. it sounded awesome. guitar->20' cable->amp. not always practical but its fun when ya can do it. if i brought even a half stack, im guessing he wouldnt have been as willing to let me crank it. 22w through a 100db speaker isnt quiet but its not the same as 50w through a 4x12. even if the volume isnt all that different, the impression of seeing the bigger amp does make a difference
 
It just depends on who the sound guy is working for, if he's working for me then I will not let him dictate what I can use.
If he's hired by the house, then I'll bend a little bit and work with him, but I won't play the gig if I'm told what gear I can use.
Seen it happen to many times, soundman tells supporting band they can't use anything bigger than a 1X12 because they will be too loud, then the headlining band plays, and they have 100w head and a 4X12 and you hear no barking from the soundman at all.
I won't torture myself just to play a gig, if I'm not enjoying it then it's not worth it.
 
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