What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

I had an old, and I mean 80's, Carvin. I always wondered why it would flub. Now, I know.
Got a 9 year old Line 6 Spider Valve. Even at 3 on the master volume, it loosens the innards. I can't wait'till I can turn it to "5".

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One of the downfalls of many of he lunch box heads that are around is that in the pursuit of keeping the amps small, light and cheap they used cheesy transformers and only passable filtering. The net effect of this is many of them sound good when played at low volumes but really get flubby and start to fart when you push them hard. The truth is small amps can be made to hold together and deliver solid bass even when pushed hard but its rare for a manufacturer to do so.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

Which is why a '68 Marshall 1959 sounds looser than a '69 Marshall 1959. One of the biggest differences is the values of the filter capacitors.

Yes this is a perfect example. Other than very minor variations the preamps are the same, the real noticeable differences in those amps comes from differences in the power supply.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

The truth is small amps can be made to hold together and deliver solid bass even when pushed hard but its rare for a manufacturer to do so.

One that does hold together is the new Marshall mini Jubilee. It is turning out to be a great amp.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

*Big amps have volume knobs that also...wait for it...turn down.

*Contrary to popular belief, amps DO NOT HAVE TO BE TURNED WAY UP TO SOUND "GOOD"

*Also contrary to popular belief, power tube distortion is NOT the be-all-end-all of good guitar tone.

*With the plethora of OD pedals available today, you have absolutely NO excuse to sound bad on a big amp turned down to manageable levels.

*Soundmen who don't know how to make moderately loud amps work in the mix should be fired and replaced by someone who knows what the term "sound reinforcement" means. Making the band turn to mouse fart levels so they can control every bit of sound the audience AND the band hears is BS and the good soundmen I've worked with damn well know it.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

*Big amps have volume knobs that also...wait for it...turn down.

*Contrary to popular belief, amps DO NOT HAVE TO BE TURNED WAY UP TO SOUND "GOOD"

Yes, they DO. A 100 watt needs full stack with low efficeincy speakers like Celestions and than you can open the amp volume up loud to get the tubes juiced without getting OTT in volume, unless you are a total wuss.

*Also contrary to popular belief, power tube distortion is NOT the be-all-end-all of good guitar tone.

Yes it is.

*With the plethora of OD pedals available today, you have absolutely NO excuse to sound bad on a big amp turned down to manageable levels.

Would never use a pedal with my 73 Superlead.

So there.

 

[Diego]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

*Big amps have volume knobs that also...wait for it...turn down.

*Contrary to popular belief, amps DO NOT HAVE TO BE TURNED WAY UP TO SOUND "GOOD"

*Also contrary to popular belief, power tube distortion is NOT the be-all-end-all of good guitar tone.

*With the plethora of OD pedals available today, you have absolutely NO excuse to sound bad on a big amp turned down to manageable levels.

*Soundmen who don't know how to make moderately loud amps work in the mix should be fired and replaced by someone who knows what the term "sound reinforcement" means. Making the band turn to mouse fart levels so they can control every bit of sound the audience AND the band hears is BS and the good soundmen I've worked with damn well know it.

Given my experience with the Marshall TSL100 and the Laney VH100R, I'd disagree with you. Those two ****ers sounded like crap unless loud as hell. The Marshall was particularly bad at low volumes, fizzy and thin.

However, not all high wattage heads behave like that. I like what I got out of a Peavey 6505+, an Egnater Tweaker 88 and a Jet City 100 watts head (can't remember the.model) at reasonable volumes. All of which are more modern designs than the Marshall and the Laney.and maybe that's why they're more flexible.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

Mind you, I'm not talking about bedroom volumes. Just not cranked to the top. At a level that can hang with a drummer, the tubes are opened up enough to sound fine, if you know what you're doing.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

*Big amps have volume knobs that also...wait for it...turn down.

*Contrary to popular belief, amps DO NOT HAVE TO BE TURNED WAY UP TO SOUND "GOOD"

Yes, they DO. A 100 watt needs full stack with low efficeincy speakers like Celestions and than you can open the amp volume up loud to get the tubes juiced without getting OTT in volume, unless you are a total wuss./

*Also contrary to popular belief, power tube distortion is NOT the be-all-end-all of good guitar tone.

Yes it is.

Go to bed Jerry, you're talking sh!t.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

Go to bed Jerry, you're talking sh!t.

I can do that.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

Given my experience with the Marshall TSL100 and the Laney VH100R, I'd disagree with you. Those two ****ers sounded like crap unless loud as hell. The Marshall was particularly bad at low volumes, fizzy and thin.

My experience with the TSL100 was a little different. I owned one for several years and mainly played it at home apartment volumes, in which case the red channel did sound fizzy though G12-T75's. It sounded much better though Mesa V30's, or anytime I used the amber channel. It also sounded good at moderate volumes, jamming with another guitarist who had a 5150 half-stack. When it didn't sound good to me was cranked to stupid-loud levels. It stopped getting louder, at which point it lost all its complexity and became flat and dry. I don't know what explains the differences here, but surely there are a number of variables at work, not least differences in how we hear, and our personal preferences.

 

[dave74]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

I gel very well with the tsl(or dsl) at lower volumes. Mesa 212 or traditional-size 412 works the absolute best with them IMO.
Never played the JVM-series unfortunately.

 

[jeremy]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

Would never use a pedal with my 73 Superlead.

So there.

when was the last time you plugged in your super lead and played though it?

 

[GilmourD]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

*Big amps have volume knobs that also...wait for it...turn down.

*Contrary to popular belief, amps DO NOT HAVE TO BE TURNED WAY UP TO SOUND "GOOD"

*Also contrary to popular belief, power tube distortion is NOT the be-all-end-all of good guitar tone.

*With the plethora of OD pedals available today, you have absolutely NO excuse to sound bad on a big amp turned down to manageable levels.

*Soundmen who don't know how to make moderately loud amps work in the mix should be fired and replaced by someone who knows what the term "sound reinforcement" means. Making the band turn to mouse fart levels so they can control every bit of sound the audience AND the band hears is BS and the good soundmen I've worked with damn well know it.

Yes, they DO. A 100 watt needs full stack with low efficeincy speakers like Celestions and than you can open the amp volume up loud to get the tubes juiced without getting OTT in volume, unless you are a total wuss.



Yes it is.



Would never use a pedal with my 73 Superlead.

So there.

To me, at least, power tube distortion, preamp-only distortion, and dirt pedals into a clean amp are three different sounds. Depends on what you do. If I were doing a Van Halen tribute I'd crank my amp. However, my current band has a lot of clean sounds and calls for different flavors of dirt, so I run a few OD and distortion pedals on my board.

 

[jeremy]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

i totally agree. although its hard to separate pi distortion from true power tube distortion in many amps. for blues gigs i want the amp to do it all. for blues rock gigs the amp going most of the work with a few pedals for color is good. for a rock or fusion gig, i want the amp to be able to be very clean and either use pedals or switch channels for drive tones. all are good but different

 

[dystrust]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

My experience with the TSL100 was a little different. I owned one for several years and mainly played it at home apartment volumes, in which case the red channel did sound fizzy though G12-T75's. It sounded much better though Mesa V30's, or anytime I used the amber channel. It also sounded good at moderate volumes, jamming with another guitarist who had a 5150 half-stack. When it didn't sound good to me was cranked to stupid-loud levels. It stopped getting louder, at which point it lost all its complexity and became flat and dry. I don't know what explains the differences here, but surely there are a number of variables at work, not least differences in how we hear, and our personal preferences.

My Jubilee 2555 does the same thing... It starts sounding really good around 2.5 on the master, and starts sounding great at about 4. It continues to sound great and get louder until the master is on 6. Any louder than that and it gets compressed and mushy without getting any louder. That's hardly an issue in most places as the amp is so insanely loud I'm lucky if I can turn it up to 2. That's why I bought a Mini; so I can turn it up to 4-5 without rearranging the furniture.

 

[mxaniac]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

What's the point of a fast car? A delicious meal? A sunset at the beach? A finely-crafted beer?

What's the point of your favorite song? Your fondest memories? Your darkest fantasies?

The point is you ENJOY them.

Beautifully said. This thread should have stopped here.

 

[Emopunk]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

I have 4 100 watt heads currently. They all have half power 50w switches though. when playing mic'd up I use them at half power through a 2/12 at 16 ohms. when we aren't mic'd I bring a 4/12 or 2 2/12s if its a large venue or an outdoor thing.

I've looked at getting smaller heads but I want the midi and the channels/features they have on the larger heads. I think only the tubemeister 36 has what I want, but I'm not sold on el84 tubes. plus its fairly expensive. If I'm spending that I'm getting a blackstar series one 200 watter.

Tubemeister 36 has actually a good price when compared to Series One heads, at least here in Italy. Is this so different where you live?

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[LLL]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

What's the point?

Carrying on the tradition. :naughty:

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

Ever tried carrying a hundred one-watt amp heads ??

 

[dystrust]

Re: What's the point in big 100 watt heads?

My Jubilee 2555 does the same thing... It starts sounding really good around 2.5 on the master, and starts sounding great at about 4. It continues to sound great and get louder until the master is on 6. Any louder than that and it gets compressed and mushy without getting any louder. That's hardly an issue in most places as the amp is so insanely loud I'm lucky if I can turn it up to 2. That's why I bought a Mini; so I can turn it up to 4-5 without rearranging the furniture.

Ever tried carrying a hundred one-watt amp heads ??

And this is the other reason I bought a Mini Jube.

Edit: Totally read that wrong... Carrying 100 one-watt amp heads is only slightly less practical than carrying one 100W amp head.