What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

wickenspoet

wickenspoet

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What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amp that you can play a show with?

Indoors or outdoors make a difference?

Ever come to play a show with too much or too little power?
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

I've played out with my 5W Champ.

Yes, I've been overpowered at shows. My 40W Custom Vibrolux Reverb was just overwhelming at a club show. I had to turn down - way down.
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

It really depends on your style of music...

I believe this was sorta covered in a fullstack thread or something
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

Theres really tons and tons of variables. Theoretically if you have a good PA and monitors you dont even need an amp you could get a rig that plugs right into the board. Ive played in a tiny coffee shop where my 12 watt Marshall micro stack seemed way too loud to a converted old supermarket where it would swallow my half stack. It all depends.
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

I've played a couple of shows with a single 6550 tube. I had to use an attenuator both times.
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

Clean tone isn't going to need as much power as distorted sound. Id say 20 watts for a clean amp and cleanish breakup like a deluxe reverb ..
For heavily distorted stuff like a tweed, Id want two Tweed bassmans-one wouldnt cut it for me..I've tried.
For a Marshall thats crunchy and bright, 18 watts would maybe work.

I'd be more comfortable 60 watts of raw distored power, and thats why I love my Sunn amp.It does the tweed thing through a 4x1o Jensen cabinet with power to spare.
For a Marshall,liek a JCM, yeah, the 50 or 100 watts is ideal judiciously mixing preamp and power amp volume..
 
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Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

Wattage has little to do with volume at the end of the day.

Outdoor always makes a difference as does the PA being used...with enough PA you could gig outdoors to a million people with a pignose or a champ or a ZVEX Nano head, outdoors with a crappy PA 4 Marshall Majors and a half a dozen Ampeg V9's might not be "enough"...

I have ended up wiht the "wrong' rig at a gig more than a few times...if I had a nickel for everytime I've been old to turn down I'd quit my day job however if I had a dollar for everytime I've been told to turn up at a gig I'd have...wait for it...yep, a dollar!
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

ive used a 15 watter at an outdoor frstival, but for me, to get the bottom end i like, i reckon 22 watts is minimum.
 
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Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

I've filled a local club with 5 watts through a couple of V30's.
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

MetalManiac said:
Clean tone isn't going to need as much power as distorted sound. Id say 20 watts for a clean amp and cleanish breakup like a deluxe reverb ..
For heavily distorted stuff like a tweed, Id want two Tweed bassmans-one wouldnt cut it for me..I've tried.
For a Marshall thats crunchy and bright, 18 watts would maybe work.

I'd be more comfortable 60 watts of raw distored power, and thats why I love my Sunn amp.It does the tweed thing through a 4x1o Jensen cabinet with power to spare.
For a Marshall,liek a JCM, yeah, the 50 or 100 watts is ideal judiciously mixing preamp and power amp volume..
Click to expand...

what??? thats totally assbackwards.

a 20w amp clean isnt gonna be loud, a 20w amp turned up so its distorting is gonna be loud. two tweed bassmans cranked up is ferociously loud but an 18w marshall is ok? those things are pretty quiet.

i play in bars and festival stages and usually use my old deluxe reverb turned up a little. in clubs volume on 4 can be too much, on festival stages i can run it as high as i want and not worry about it. i have amps that are 12w and 85w they all have their place but with the deluxe i can basically get whatever i need at a some what reasonable volume
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

jeremy said:
what??? thats totally assbackwards.
Click to expand...

:haha:




I know a guy who gigs with a 1x12 Marshall 8040 solid state. First time I went to see them play, I swore he wasn't going to be heard because they don't mic anything through the P.A. in clubs other than vocals. I was proven wrong.
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

Smallest is totally dependent on venue and efficiency of the PA, not to mention the ability of the sound person to actually make it all work.

I normally gig with a 50 watt Vox Valvetronix combo. If I could get away with it, I'd use a Marshall Lead 12 or something small like that. We mic up but keep instrument levels to a minimum in the monitors.
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

I played an outdoor show with a Blackface Fender Vibro Champ ran through a PA. I had to stand pretty close to the amp to hear everything, but there were no complaints from the crowd.
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

Johtosotku said:
I've played a couple of shows with a single 6550 tube. I had to use an attenuator both times.
Click to expand...

I have gigged with a 5 Watt EL84 head and an attenuator --- I used the attenuator to get the amp in "the zone." It was way too loud. I had it hooked to a Weber Blue Dog in a 1x12 cab.
 
Re: What's the smallest wattage tube and/or solid state amps for shows?

when i was out in california earlier this summer i did a few gigs with a bf princeton reverb. it sounded great thru the pa and as long as i had it up high enough i could hear it fine even with the other guys used 50w and 100w amps
 
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