Members JimiPage Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 Would a 20 watt tube amp be loud enough to gig with? I was looking at the AXL Akita model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 Yes, but it won't be very clean. And if you have a really loud drummer you might want a bit more power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Lou-Dog Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 That all depends on what kind of speaker you using. 20 watts througha 12" speaker is plenty for pubs and clubs, through 2 by 12 you could get away with small outdoor gigs. If you can mike the amp then its fine for any live situation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goodwater Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 i've found that a six watt amp can be loud enough to gig with (fender champ). i had a blues jr. (15 watts) and don't think i ever had to turn it past 3. wattage isn't a great indicator of volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members songsforbears Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 Yeah, I've got a 5W the can hold its own with a drum kit, so you'll be more than fine with 20W. I'd recommend the 22W Fender Deluxe Reverb RI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeerBaron Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 Would a 20 watt tube amp be loud enough to gig with? I was looking at the AXL Akita model. Yes, but if you have decent budget I wouldnt get an AXL amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 Would a 20 watt tube amp be loud enough to gig with? I was looking at the AXL Akita model. Yes. You'll usually be miked up at a gig, to an extent you're probably better off using a smaller amp. As others have mentioned you might struggle for clean headroom, so if you need really 'clean' guitar tone you'd probably be better going for something bigger - particularly if you intend using it un-miked for rehearsals and small gigs. If clean tone isn't an issue, just buy a 20 watt amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geeter Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 20 watts should be fine for most gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Faber Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 The Koch Studiotone is 20W and have great headroom on the clean channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BootRoots Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 20w is plenty. I regularly gig with a Priceton Reverb which is like 12-15watts. Another guy in my band uses a Blues Jr without issue. We don't really play anywhere where the bar owners want us to cranck it anyway, so something like a twin reverb or 100watt marshall would just be overkill. I guess it depends on what and where you play though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 Yeah, I've got a 5W the can hold its own with a drum kit, so you'll be more than fine with 20W.I'd recommend the 22W Fender Deluxe Reverb RI. A 5 watt, if you get it up off the floor to waist-level, can cut through amazingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 I went over to a friends house with a tweed Champ clone. We were all set up in his living room. Basically a drummer, bass, vocalist through the PA, and this guy with a solid state 30 watt Behringer...and me with this little 5 watt Champ. No pedals. No effects. Just me straight into the amp. Anyway you might not believe this... but when everybody crank up to jam, I could NOT HEAR MY AMP AT ALL. No one else could either. That student/practice amp with it's 5 raging watts was totally overpowered by the other guy's serious stage gear. Hard to believe but it's true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members washburndean Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 I would recommend a Blues Jr. Nice, affordable, and loud. Either that.. or you could just scream your guitar notes like "WHAHAHAHAHAHA WHA WHA WHA" while you play the guitar. That would be sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brujo13 Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 i gig a 25 watt peavey bravo , and it RulZ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trill Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 When it comes to volume, speaker size is probably more important than wattage. The Akita looks like it will be good to go. I'm all about mic'ing amps anyway. You get better spread and more flexibility when it comes to volume/gain levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paranormal5150 Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 i have to turn my 120 watt amp up pretty loud in my band to get over the drummer. But i play metal music and theres a lot of crashes being hit. If you can go for more then go for more. If you got a pa system then it will be loud enough but its all about if you like that kinda sound. I don't like the sound of one speaker being pushed. SOme people think speakers sound better when they are pushed but I don't. I like the clarity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3red Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 i have to turn my 120 watt amp up pretty loud in my band to get over the drummer. But i play metal music and theres a lot of crashes being hit. i hope you use earplugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NightGoat Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 speaker efficiency is probably the most important factor here. If you don't need a lot of clean headroom, then you could play through something like a 12" Eminence Wizard, which is rated at 103 db, and it would be plenty loud enough. If i'm not mistaken, volume gets noticeably louder to the human ear in 3db increments. So a 103 db speaker would be noticeably louder than a 100 db speaker...or something like that....someone elaborate, if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NightGoat Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 For some perspective.....a 120 watt amp is NOT twice as loud as a 60 watt amp. It would take approx. 600 watts(again, if im not mistaken), to be twice as loud. The advantage of the 120 watt amp is the clean headroom, if you need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paranormal5150 Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 well it doesnt sound as pushed. A 60 watt tube amp is plenty loud enough but i can still tell a difference. I make my 5150 60 watts when playing bymyself and recording so it hits that sweet spot earlier on the tubes. I can still play with my drummer at 60 watts but its just not quite there. It sounds better at 120 watts. Again its if you liked that pushed sound or not. But 20 watts wouldn't be enough for me but if i played another genre of music it might would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PaoloJM Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 For some perspective.....a 120 watt amp is NOT twice as loud as a 60 watt amp. It would take approx. 600 watts(again, if im not mistaken), to be twice as loud. The advantage of the 120 watt amp is the clean headroom, if you need it. This is correct. The human ear percieves sound in a logarithmic fashion. That is why decibel are used as the unit of measure. You need 10 times the power output to double the percievable volume. This means a 50W amp sounds only twice as loud as a 5W, however you'd have to have a 500W to go twice as loud as a 50Watter. 3db corresponds to a doubling of power, "not loudness". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 This is correct. The human ear percieves sound in a logarithmic fashion. That is why decibel are used as the unit of measure. You need 10 times the power output to double the percievable volume. This means a 50W amp sounds only twice as loud as a 5W, however you'd have to have a 500W to go twice as loud as a 50Watter. 3db corresponds to a doubling of power, "not loudness". Yes and no. Volume is logarithmic to the multiple of 10. But wattage is not a measure of signal output, just heat dissipation. There are other factors involved as well. In the hi-fi world, the rule of thumb is approximated to: 100 watts is twice as loud as 20 watts which is twice loud as 5 watts which is twice as loud as 1 watt. Roughly a factor of 5. But with guitar amps, you also have to figure in the fact the a tube amp is a full RMS wattage at it's point of maximum headroom, as the power amp gets saturated you exceeding the maximum wattage rating until you peak (a tube guitar amp can peak at 150% to 200% it's rated wattage). 20 watts RMS is definitely enough to keep up with all but the most heavy handed drummer, but it doesn't allow clean headroom, the amp will be running hot. 40 watts RMS is generally considered better if one needs to play clean with a drummer. 12 watts RMS is definitely enough to gig with with an efficient speaker, I can say that from experience. And if you have a PA and can mic an amp, 1/2 watt will do or even no amp at all (direct box/modeler). But the type, size and efficiency of the speaker(s) can make a huge difference, one speaker can actually be twice as loud as another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JimiPage Posted March 27, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 thanks for the input, everyone. I will just be playing blues and rock, no metal, so I think 20 watts will be ok. I keep reading that tube watts are louder than solid state watts - is this correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesclark Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 thanks for the input, everyone. I will just be playing blues and rock, no metal, so I think 20 watts will be ok. I keep reading that tube watts are louder than solid state watts - is this correct? Its a human ear thing:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 thanks for the input, everyone. I will just be playing blues and rock, no metal, so I think 20 watts will be ok. I keep reading that tube watts are louder than solid state watts - is this correct? No. A watt is a watt. But as I noted abive, tube amps have RMS wattage *and* peak wattage. SS amps are limited to RMS wattage. I just deleted 3 long paragraphs, there has to be a simpler way of explaining it. RMS wattage is the maximum number of watts an amp can put out consistently without wavering. It is also the point at which a power amp breaks up. So, with a 20-watt tube amp, it's at 20 watts at it's maximum *clean* poweramp output (preamp settings aside), but that poweramp can be overdriven and pushed to produce peaks of higher wattage (in some amps up to 200%). So, a 20-watt tube amp that is cranked could actually be peaking at 30 watts or more. With SS amps, poweramp overdrive is considered harsh and unpleasant, so manufacturers make sure the amp can't exceed it's RMS limit and you rely on the preamp for all of you distortion needs. So, a 20-watt SS amp will rarely, if ever exceed 20-watts. There are always exceptions, the old SS amps of the '60's -- Kustom, Lab, Vox, etc. -- allowed SS powermap overdrive...and they sounded mean and gnarly and quite cool. And then there is always speaker efficiency, which has a huge impact on output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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