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Who has chosen to forgo higher wattage amps for...


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I apologize if this has been recently posted, as I haven't seen it.

 

I was wondering who has played on higher wattage amps, say 50 watts and up, and has changed their tonal preference and wattage preference for a lower wattage amp, say 35 watts and less for live work?

 

For as long as I can remember, I have used 50 and 100 watt amps, but always used the lower wattage settings if the amps had them. However, I began to realize that I was not using the full potential of what those amps offered in terms of power at the work I was being offered. It was always overkill by way too much wattage available.

 

Then over the last couple of years, I have been getting smaller amps, or reducing the power in my current Diezels by using less powerful tubes.

 

I am now at a point where I am using tube amps that are 20 watts and less, and plan on getting my next Diezel with the lowest wattage they offer.

I miss the options that some of the larger amps had, that are sometimes missing on the lower wattage amps, but have noticed that now, amp makers are putting the same options into their lower wattage amps.

 

These are things as a tube driven effects loop, parallel effects loop, multiple channels, or other power-related options, power scaling, and the list goes on.

 

I have found that when I use lower wattage power tubes, I am able to turn the dials on the amp up higher and get from the amp more tone out of it, and more versatility from any given dial on the amp.

 

I am using less distortion, getting more sustain and clarity while still distorting the amp, yet more aggressive tones from these lower wattage amps.

 

Has anyone else been doing this?

 

Thank you.

Stephen

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Have several high gain 50, 120 and such tube amps. For band practice I bring a Fender blues JR (15 watts) and everyone comments on the sound. I use a Mosferatu and a AC booster in front and a Les Paul. I also have a Dr. Z Maz JR NR that is 18 watts and that sounds amazing. I don't know anywhere except the Garden that you would really need a 100 watt amp and then you mic them up anyway. Love my 3-5 watt Blackheart but haven't tried it at practice yet...

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Have several high gain 50, 120 and such tube amps. For band practice I bring a Fender blues JR (15 watts) and everyone comments on the sound. I use a Mosferatu and a AC booster in front and a Les Paul. I also have a Dr. Z Maz JR NR that is 18 watts and that sounds amazing. I don't know anywhere except the Garden that you would really need a 100 watt amp and then you mic them up anyway.
Love my 3-5 watt Blackheart but haven't tried it at practice yet...

 

 

I took my VJ to rehearsal the other night and it kept up well with the drummer and the rest of the band. I need to get a larger cab for it at some point.

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I have found that the need for power is driven by what the other guys in the band do. I have been running an Epi Jr. at practice through a 4x12 and it is damn loud, as in loud enough. But if the bass player were to suddenly show up with an SVT and start turning things up (as bass players sometimes do), I would get blown out of the water pretty fast and need something bigger.

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I have an old 70's silverface twin reverb in my best friends basement, I should probably go clean off the cobwebs and fire it up for an hour or so...this is my loudest amp.

 

I use my Rocktron Egnater TOL50 head and a 2X12 cab to keep up with the louder people.

 

Bedroom amps I've decided to sell Epi valve jr, Blackheart BH5112 combo and an old MIA blues junior...My Egnaters 10 watt mode blows these amps away.

 

Getting a 65 Princeton reissue today 15watts with a 1X10 Jensen.

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I am currently using a Fender Super-Sonic. I think it puts out 65 watts. The volume is usually on about 2 1/2 to 3. I bought the Super-Sonic because of the great Fender clean tone it provides. That amp is a 1 X 12 combo, I used to play with a head and 4 X 12 speaker, so I guess I have been scaling down a bit.

Max

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I went from a 50W Mesa Single Rec to a 22W Deluxe Reverb RI with an overdrive pedal out front. Much happier. You never have to worry about being too loud, and you can set the amp right on the edge of clean and breakup and control it with your volume knob. Then slam it with an overdrive pedal for a lead tone. For most of the smallish places I play this works very well. Occasionally I might want a bit more headroom - a 4x6V6 Deluxe would be cool if it existed. But this setup is working very well for me. Also much easier to carry around!

I generally do not like modern channel switching amps. They always feel too stiff and overly saturated, not sweet. I tend to like things like old Fenders or Vox AC30s. One channel, simple controls, well voiced - add a couple pedals out front and I'm good to go.

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I play a Epi Valve Jr through a self built 1x12 and it keep up with the rest of the band, including a damn loud drummer.

I'm thinking of getting a second one to run in stereo, but I have no problems gigging it, don't think I've ever had to fully push the volume control yet either.

Although I never need a fully clean sound so I guess that suits me a bit.

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99% of the time I use my Crate V33H, which is a 30 watt head over a 2x12 cab. I have used amps with 100 watts and more, and I currently own a 120 watt 2x12 combo, but I rarely gig with it. I use it when I really need the volume.

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