Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

i usually gig with a deluxe reverb with a cannabis rex. its plenty loud for any where i play but the crex is a very efficient speaker. i use an attenuator sometimes to knock the volume down so i can get some dirt from the amp. any place im playing that it isnt loud enough has a big pa to do the heavy lifting
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Mostly I go with a Champ 12 and it does fine. If I'm playing outdoors with a drummer I know to think he is Keith Moon or John Bonham reincarnated I drag along my AVT50 and it is more that enough to handle the task at hand.

To answer your question, yes, in most situations 15 Watts with a good speaker will do you just fine.

As an aside what I'm doing to deal with this problem we all face is to build a dual purpose amp. I built a cabinet with a Celestion Vintage 12 in it. I built a 40 Watt solid state amp modeled after a Fender Mustang II and installed it in the cabinet. I am finishing up building a 5f1 tube amp which is a tweed champ clone that I will install in the cabinet as well. When I'm done I will have one box that should serve whatever situation presents itself.
 
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Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

15 will do as long as it's mic'd and as long as you can work the angle of the amp enough to be able to hear it as your "monitor" but if the drums are drowning you out... it could be more difficult. A good sound man will more than likely be able to help you solve this issue.

I think 20 watts and up becomes more reasonable for gigs but 15 can be done.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

I used to gig regularly with a Blues Jr. The stages I play range from small clubs to large music halls. In the small clubs, I just plug in and go. It keeps up great with the band with the amp starting to overdrive a bit. Would I play it if I was doing my clean funk thing? Probably not. But it works for me. For any of the larger places, it's just a given that they will run all instruments through the PA. I've brought larger amps to those gigs (Twin Reverbs and 100-watt half stacks), but I usually end up having to turn down to the point that the amp doesn't sound good anymore.

So, like pretty much everyone has said, it depends. The AC15 is a very, very loud amp. It's definitely very close to the AC30 in volume. On top of that, the full mid-range of the Vox should cut through a mix really well. So, personally, I would go for it.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

I would also like to point out that I have gigged with a borrowed AC10, and it sounded absolutely fantastic, so the 15 should be just fine.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

DinoTrousers said:
I used to gig regularly with a Blues Jr. The stages I play range from small clubs to large music halls.
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I played a outdoor beach bar gig with a Blues Jr. with a band that was fairly loud, louder than I thought they'd be. My amp was maxed, way too distorted, and couldn't keep up. Won't being doing that again.
 
Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Here's the question for you: is the 15 watt amp loud enough for rehearsal? If it is then it's loud enough for gigs. If your amp is loud enough unmiked in practice then why wouldn't it be on stage? If the gig is large enough that the drums are miked and going through the PA then so would the guitars. If the gig is smaller and the drums are not in the PA then how is that any different than rehearsal?

There's generally two schools of thought with guitarists and their amps: ones who understand stage volume and band dynamics, and those who think every stage they walk onto is Wembly Stadium. So whether 15 watts is enough really depends on whether you're the former or the latter.
 
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Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Powdered Toast Man said:
Here's the question for you: is the 15 watt amp loud enough for rehearsal? If it is then it's loud enough for gigs. If your amp is loud enough unmiked in practice then why wouldn't it be on stage? If the gig is large enough that the drums are miked and going through the PA then so would the guitars. If the gig is smaller and the drums are not in the PA then how is that any different than rehearsal?

There's generally two schools of thought with guitarists and their amps: ones who understand stage volume and band dynamics, and those who think every stage they walk onto is Wembly Stadium. So whether 15 watts is enough really depends on whether you're the former or the latter.
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The only potential trouble I see with a smaller amp in a smaller gig with not much in the way of a PA/sound reinforcement system is spread.
Tricks like placing your amp higher from the ground (combos in chairs aren't too Rock n' Roll but who cares) are good.

I used to gig with my Cube 60 and that thing was hopelessly directional in it's sound delivery; 60 watts that were more than loud onstage but a b**** to get the audience to hear across a hall.
Thankfully it has a Line Out with cabinet emulation and even through crappy PAs it was enough to fix it up.
My current open back 15 watts configuration spreads a lot better in fact.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Diego said:
The only potential trouble I see with a smaller amp in a smaller gig with not much in the way of a PA/sound reinforcement system is spread.
Tricks like placing your amp higher from the ground (combos in chairs aren't too Rock n' Roll but who cares) are good.

I used to gig with my Cube 60 and that thing was hopelessly directional in it's sound delivery; 60 watts that were more than loud onstage but a b**** to get the audience to hear across a hall.
Thankfully it has a Line Out with cabinet emulation and even through crappy PAs it was enough to fix it up.
My current open back 15 watts configuration spreads a lot better in fact.
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I get your point, but that's more a discussion of cabinet type (open or closed) and number of speakers rather than wattage or power output. I'll often take my 4x10 59 Bassman to gigs for the broad wash it has in terms of sound but I have it turned down. It's not because of the power, it's just spreading things around more than say a 1x12 equipped amp. If I use my stand that angles the amp toward my head then my Tweed Deluxe is usually pretty loud in many instances.

Oh, and that's the other thing. If you kick your amp back so it's pointed at your head instead of blasting at your knees, you'll find you don't need nearly as much power as you thought.

Best example I have of guitarist who thinks he's playing a stadium is this one time I went to see a local show at a pub. They were having trouble with the PA so I helped them out. It was a simple set up too - just vocals in the PA and everything else unmiked because it was a small-ish room. So we get the first band all set up and I tell the guitar players (there were two of them) to turn their amps down because they were both way too loud. Everything sounded great and balanced but the guitarists were both pouting about being told to turn down. The band starts and not more than halfway through their first song the guitar player on the one side of the stage turns around, puts a finger on the volume knob and just rips it. He cranks his amp to the max and then he's all happy and starts rocking out with his guitar god moves. Well, all the audience heard for the remainder of their set was that guy's guitar. He overpowered the drums, vocals, and pretty much everything else. His amp wasn't even very large - it was a combo.
 
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Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

I had that same experience once with a guy using my own Cube 60 (I played later that night) unmiced and without the Line Out (he didn't "trust" it, whatever that means) so after two songs he went close to full tilt. It was a narrow stage so it was pretty much by his knees.

He deafened the first few rows for sure. That's what lack of experience does... He at least did apologize to us afterwards saying he couldn't even hear himself at all.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Powdered Toast Man said:
There's generally two schools of thought with guitarists and their amps: ones who understand stage volume and band dynamics, and those who think every stage they walk onto is Wembly Stadium. So whether 15 watts is enough really depends on whether you're the former or the latter.
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Not that simple. There's a whole band with their own instruments, and there's the tendency for some guys to get louder as the night goes on, combination of alcohol and a pumped-up crowd. Sometimes crowds want the band to be louder. It's always better to have more volume available than you think you'll need, than to not have enough.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

blueman335 said:
Not that simple. There's a whole band with their own instruments, and there's the tendency for some guys to get louder as the night goes on, combination of alcohol and a pumped-up crowd. Sometimes crowds want the band to be louder. It's always better to have more volume available than you think you'll need, than to not have enough.
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I agree in principal, except that I'd rather have the extra volume available from the PA than from my amp. I tend to prefer smaller amps, and bigger amps just don't respond the same way when played at a reasonable volume.

I've always pushed bands I was in to have a nice big PA capable of playing to a 400-500 person room. You can always turn down the power amps for the 100-150 person show.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Matt42 said:
I agree in principal, except that I'd rather have the extra volume available from the PA than from my amp. I tend to prefer smaller amps, and bigger amps just don't respond the same way when played at a reasonable volume.

I've always pushed bands I was in to have a nice big PA capable of playing to a 400-500 person room. You can always turn down the power amps for the 100-150 person show.
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I've played a lot of bar gigs where the amps usually aren't mic'd. Your volume is in your hands.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

I've never played one where they weren't (other than breweries where the volume needs to be low, and the majority of the music is acoustic).

Yes, volume is in the hands, but running a Twin on 2 doesn't have the same sound as a Princeton running at 6. I'd prefer the Princeton on 6, personally, and allow the PA to do the heavy lifting. If that means we have to have a larger PA, I'm all for that. There's more than one way to project sound.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

I think any gig (and there are many) where everything isn't going through the PA will have sound problems. It is worth investing in. A bad live sound can ruin a really good band.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

If it is mic'd...as long as you can hear yourself, you should be fine.

From my experience, it depends on your drummer. If your drummer is the kind of d!ck who likes to use triggers in a local bar...then...no. If the guy knows how to play with articulation and control, you will be fine.

Again...as long as you can hear yourself. You can always prop it up to ear level.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Lucy Diamond said:
From my experience, it depends on your drummer. If your drummer is the kind of d!ck who likes to use triggers in a local bar...then...no. If the guy knows how to play with articulation and control, you will be fine.
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I wouldn't quite say that. I've played some good drummers who are a bit 'enthusiastic', who might down out little amps. But as long as a drummer has good timing, I don't mind if he's on the loud side on some of the songs. I certainly don't want to play laid back, mellow stuff all night, like he's drumming for the Lawrence Welk show.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

alex_dorsten said:
What do you guys think? I've been looking at an ac15 for a while just don't know if it's loud enough for big shows at bars and amphitheaters
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Which bars and amphitheaters?

It truly depends lol Some bars and amphitheaters are small and others are large, some are setup quite well for live shows while others are not at all... Are you playing at these places regularly?
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

Matt42 said:
running a Twin on 2 doesn't have the same sound as a Princeton running at 6.
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I've got both a princeton and a twin.
They are both pretty darn nice and can both manage useable and sweet stage volumes.
The princeton gets more gigs tho mainly because it is easier to carry.
 
Re: Is 15 watts enough to gig with?

It depends on so many factors. If circumstances are ideal, even a 5W amp can make you a happy stage sound. If you're the only guitarist playing music with lots of dynamics, if the PA + monitoring is decent and you don't have a drummer that wants to slay the drumkit with every beat - a 15W amp will give you comfortable volume and feel, maybe even without control monitors.

With some dense music, a viking warrior drummer, a bassist running a 500W+ rig (doesn't have to run on full power), an another guitarist running a 50W+ tube amp and a club with crap control monitors (as well as open fest stages where all kinds of monitoring issues can occur at once) or "winning" all the mysterious worst sides of room reflections around the place where you and your guitar gear resides - you're lost with 15 watts.
 
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