I'm really getting tire of....

Re: I'm really getting tired of....

Re: I'm really getting tired of....

3'scompany said:
I'm really getting tired of all these threads where people say that 100 watts is too much unless you're in a stadium.

3'scompany said:
I really could care less what wattage amp people buy. I just don't get why some people think that their way is always the right way. It all boils down to preference.

Sounds like you've pretty much answered your question. Sure, you can get tired of reading all the posts about people who don't like 100-watt amps and disagree 100%, but as you said "It all boils down to preference." People prefer a 100-watt or 50-watt or 15-watt amp for lots of reasons: tone, affordability, practicality, versitility...the list goes on. It sounds like you're in the 100-watt camp; good for you. I have friends who are in that camp as well -- there's no way they'd go for anything less and I respect that.

Just keep in mind that in an open forum such as this one you're always going to get people who say "Anyone who does X is an idiot." Those kinds of statements are annoying and I do my best to ignore them. Occasionally, when I'm feeling particularly motivated (or even a little self-righteous), I'll step in and state my case.

I don't mean to pick on you specifically, 3'scompany -- even though I can't get that friggin' 70s sit-com theme song out of my head now because of your forum handle -- but your post happened to inspire me to respond. My three amps are 33 watts, 40 watts and 50 watts, respectively, and each is way too loud for bedroom purposes. In fact, they're even too loud for band practice or a small club gig without some kind of dummy load. On the flip side, I was just talking with a friend and fellow forum bro (who shall remain nameless) about his Mesa Dual Rec and how he absolutely loves the tone and can't imagine buying anything less powerful. When he opens the throttle on that thing it's godly to him. Cool.

I don't hear anyone saying here that they're "always right." That tone may be intentionally implied or unintentionally inferred but people are on this forum because they're passionate about what they use and how they use it. You are too, which totally rocks. I'd hate to read a whole "AC30s suck" thread. As much as I'd want to lay that thread to rest, in my vastly superior opinion (that was a joke) the best thing to do is either avoid the thread or post something stating "I think AC30s are great because of X, Y and Z." It looks like you've done the latter with your second post on this thread. I found that post much more useful that the initial post trying to squash discussion. In fact, again in my vastly superior opinion, I think you made some great arguments in your second post.

But do wear earplugs if you're going to blast a 100-watt for a few hours each week. Pete Townshend would say the same, but that jerk never comes to this forum anymore. He never sends us flowers...he never writes us love songs... *sniff*

I will now step off my soap box. Rock on, bro. You said it well.

- Keith
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

Anytime you're hearing that is from an old fart who doesn't play metal - the kind of music where you need HEADROOM, and lots of it. We like tight, aggressive gain, that sounds "buzzy" to these purists... **** em!
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

So metal tones are buzzy? I always thought buzzy tones were digitechs through cheap solid states.
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

Lake Placid Blues said:
Some guys need a lot of clean head room, depending on the type of music they play, and how their rig is configured. Many forms of guitar music may not find power tube breakup, or speaker breakup desirable. Even some forms of rather heavy rock are built on pre-amp and outboard distortion timbres, and powerstage breakup isn't that desirable.

I recall watching a country band playing a wedding once. The guitarist was using a BF Deluxe Reverb, and the distortion was driving him crazy. It was kinda funny. He kept turning down to clean up, and then he would go invisable in the mix. He would turn back up, and get what I though was a sweet overdrive, but he wanted it pristine clean, dang it!

For guys that use a lot of effects and want their effects, especially the reverbs, and delays, to come through un-muddied, a 100 watt may be essential.

The Fender Twin Reverb is a 100+ amp and it's been the traditional club amp for decades. The are usually louder than Marshalls, but people don't seem to realize it.

The 50 watt Marshall 1/2 stack with Vintage 30's produces the same SPL's, as a 100 Watt Marshall 1/2 stack with Greenbacks, or 75's, but it won't have as much clean head room.


I agree with this. I mean people ask for marshall growl. you are probably not going to get this from 100watts unless you want to go deaf. But there are alot bands that are out there like OAR that use a 100 watt hiwatt just so he doesnt get tube break up. I think thats the only reason the Fender twin is 85 watts IMO. I want a Fender bassman so I can get some gain at a "reasonable level" and then get great cleans at an actual reasonalble level. I still the the F'er is too loud just couldnt find anything that sounds better, but then again I still want to try the Univalve
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

I practise with my band with a 30 watt tube amp, and I only play at half volume or close to it. If we play any louder the neighbours complain, I suppose it depends on what type of music you play, but I think 30-50 watt tubes are perfect for what I do. My mate has a 100 watt, and its usless in his situation, he plays at youth groups and stuff, cant turn it above 3 without giving everyone in the room ear damage. Its only a small-medium sized room, 40 people.
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

While I don't necessarily agree with Lew about the angry bees thing (I think it's more about finding an amp for more aggressive styles than posing), I see high wattage amps as being the thing for clean players.

Remember me? I was the guy that said 30w is more than good enough for up to medium gigs. Well, I opened my mouth and the foot's coming :D I play with a pretty loud drummer and the clean headroom ended up being a concern, I *just* missed the volume level to cut through with the level of clarity I had wanted.

I'm getting in an 80w head on Monday and no, I don't think it'll be overkill. As I've been playing out more and more, I realize that just because you have an amp, doesn't mean you have to crank it wide open to make it sound amazing. In fact, anything over noon on just about any amp I've used, I feel it actually degrades the tone. There's a "sweet spot" where the amp opens up before it gets so loud that it starts losing its dynamics. The 80w will come in handy because now I'll have no problem cutting through the band perfectly clean (although I did like the slightly broken up Vox thing with topend chime, surprisingly my Crate V32 Palomino does that pretty well).
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

another factor is how many cones you have in your cabinet. someone on another thread mentioned the other day that he recalled that you get up to a 6db boost when you go from a 1 x12 to a 2 x 12. also the sensitivity of the cone is a factor, although, compared to high end home audio speakers, most guitar speakers are VERY sensitive........like 100db @1w. vs 86-89db for most home speakers worth their salt...yow!!!!!Lots of factors
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

50W is more than enough for my band and that way I only have to deal with 2 power tubes instead of 4. :p

IMO, it's preferable to use the guitar amp for stage volume and use the PA to fill the room. If you're lucky enough to have a sound man who's not a retard, you'll probably end up with a better mix that way than depending on instrument amps to fill the room.
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

The only problem with a PA for us small time guys (and some big timers) is that the average affordable PA is SO bad that you will never get your sound that you have worked so hard to find to come out of those speakers. Think about it......how much did you pay for your amp? There is no way that an all-in-one Mackie PA setup is going to get that sound across to the audience. :yell: I always make sure i get up close to the stage at clubs so i can hear what the guitar player actually sounds like. :banana:
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

jdm61 said:
The only problem with a PA for us small time guys (and some big timers) is that the average affordable PA is SO bad that you will never get your sound that you have worked so hard to find to come out of those speakers.
I'd hope you're not playing the big-ish venues 3's describes with an "affordable PA".
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

Why do people always assume that a 100w head is going to be run full blast? It's nothing to do with posing, people get them because they give out a better tone to them. The volume of that tone is a problem that can be rectified with an attenuator or PPIMV. I can get a fantastic tone at bedroom volumes with my 100w 1959slp and a PPIMV that sounds better to me than anything any other 5/10/15/18/20/30/50w amp could produce, and if I want singing power tube distortion I'll use an attenuator - the tone is still better than using a smaller wattage amp.

Also, people that go with 50w EL34 amps because 100w EL34 amps are "waayyyyy too loud" are kidding themselves - the difference in volume isn't worth mentioning, a 50w plexi would still kill everyone in the first 10 rows on full blast!
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

i personally need 100 watts of power. 20 watts for volume, 80 watts for compensation......
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

I was hoping that Jeff Seal would chime in on this thread. He made a similar post a while ago. If I remember correctly his argument was that even though you have 100W amp doesn't mean you necessarily run it full blast. 100W amps are usually very well made and sound better at louder at lower volume settings and sound better than a lower what amp. I'm gonna try to find that post. I hope that I'm not misquoting him.
 
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Re: I'm really getting tire of....

I remember that post, Todd. It was something like, 100 watt amps sound better at lower volumes than low wattage amps at high volumes.
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

I run my Pitbull in Class A mode, which means it's pushing about 30-40 watts (as opposed to 45 in Class A/B), and have had absolutely no problems being heard in venues of 300-400 people. Volume isn't the only thing that dictates if you can cut through the mix, those little EQ knob thingies make a big difference too :). However, there's definitely a time and place for a 100w beast, just not now and not at my place :laugh2:.
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

Pecan said:
I practise with my band with a 30 watt tube amp, and I only play at half volume or close to it. If we play any louder the neighbours complain, I suppose it depends on what type of music you play, but I think 30-50 watt tubes are perfect for what I do. My mate has a 100 watt, and its usless in his situation, he plays at youth groups and stuff, cant turn it above 3 without giving everyone in the room ear damage. Its only a small-medium sized room, 40 people.

When you hear people "putting down" 100 watt amps, it's usually because they're responding to a situation much like that described here. If you want a good, growly distorted tone, and you can't crank it, you are often better off with a lower wattage amp. I had a 150 watt amp, traded it in for a 45 watt amp, which I traded in for an 18 watt amp. For practice, rehearsal, parties, bars and small clubs, it's perfect. Admittedly, my cleans do suffer somewhat, but I don't play clean so very much and I kinda like a hint of breakup in the sound.

It's all a matter of what you play, how you play, and where you play. There's a place for every size amp. It's just that quite often, smaller can be a better fit.
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

Do we need to get into the difference between SS wattage and tube wattage?

My only issue with 100 watters is the volume required to get all the tubes cooking. It's no more than a matter of personal preference, but 99% of the 100 watters you hear in a guitar store have the volume set low and the gain maxed out. At that point the power tubes are still sleeping and the preamp tubes are cooking up a nest of pissed off bumble bees. It sounds terrible to my ears.

You can get the tone you want with a smaller rig. Trouble is, nothing is ever marketed that way. There are a lot of times I wish I had an 18 watter, because my 50 watter gets very loud very quick. However, the volume is a by-product of where the power tubes need to be for me to get the tone I want.
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

I actually find myself considering the purchase of an amp that´s OVER 100watts, because I´d like more clean headroom and a more open distorted tone than I currently have w 2x50 through 2 2x12s.

More wattage is not always just power mongering and rockstar poseurism... whether you like it or not, someday some of you guys are going to have to understand that we do this because we LIKE the way it sounds, and aren´t willing to compromise on that becasue we love it too much. Would YOU compromise when choosing a wife??

Come to think of it, that may be why I´m still single :smack:

But bottom line: You guys wanna go to war with a slingshot and a knife, be my guest.. I´ll take the Bazooka and hand grenades, thank you :laugh2:
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

Zerberus said:
But bottom line: You guys wanna go to war with a slingshot and a knife, be my guest.. I´ll take the Bazooka and hand grenades, thank you :laugh2:

I'll take a Boss DS-1 because it's "built like a tank." HAR! Get it? A tank?

(Couldn't resist that one. Man, I'm funny.)
 
Re: I'm really getting tire of....

DesertRose said:
I'm using a 100watt JCM900 and 180watts Fender twin in my room. lol
When my friends come over and gig, I would need them since the drums and bass will cover up most of the sound

What Twin do you have that has 180 Watts???????
 
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