JCA22H For gigging ? (Pop-punk / HxC)

[thomas.peyrache]

Hi everyone!

I know there is plenty of threads about this, but I couldn't find any specific answer to my wondering !

So here are my needs, and I would like to know if the gear I'm willing to buy is going to fit them

And I'm asking this to you because this brand is not represented in stores here where I live (west of France) so I'm not able to try it by myself !

 

- My needs :

 

I want to gig with it

I play pop-punk, modern pop-punk (think of Neck Deep, Four Year Strong, and even softer bands like All Time Low) blended with more HxC influences (BMTH, A Day To Remember breakdowns, Parkway Drive) - please don't judge my personal tastes

I play in a 4 piece band with another guitar player (I'm the rhythm guitarist) and a LOUD drummer (who's asked to play with nylon sticks xD)

My budget would be under €500 and it can't go beyond that point

 

 

 

First of all I've got a ESP LTD EC-1000

 

- The gear I'm looking at :

 

 

A JCA22H amp (Jet City Amplification)

A 1*12 cab, maybe the 12s+ by JCA too

Maybe a Tube Screamer by Ibanez, in order to boost it (never tried it, I've read about this online)

 

 

So in your opinion, would it suit for gigging, and for my musical style ?

Do I need to look at more powerful heads / cabs ?

Is there a more appropriate amp for what I want to play ? (I saw that Blackstar are great but for this price I can only find the 5W version, Orange Tiny Terror is in the same price range too)

 

Thanks a lot, can provide more informations !

 

Thomas

[DeepEnd]

I'd be looking at the 50 Watt version of that head, the JCA50H (http://www.thomann.de/gb/jet_city_amplification_jca50h.htm) or maybe something used. I know "tube Watts" are supposedly louder than the SS gear I'm used to but depending on the venue I think a 20 Watt head and a 1X12 cab would be minimal for what you want. I don't know what's available there in France but here in the US, older Peavey stuff is cheap and abundant. In any event, you may have to skip the Tube Screamer at first until you get a few gigs under your belt and have a few more Euros to spend. Here's a bundle with the JCA50H and the 24S+ 2X12 cab for just under your maximum (€488 with a speaker cable): http://www.thomann.de/gb/jet_city_amplification_jca50h_bundle_1.htm. (No budget left for pedals though.)

[runbeerrun]

You should never gig. The real money's in stocks and bonds. You can put a mic on any small amp, if you're ok with the sound too.

[WRGKMC]

Its not just what the audience hears, its what you hear on stage.

 

Without micing it and running it through the monitors I'd be hard pressed to hear that amp on a large stage in a medium hall. a good 30~35w head is what I consider minimal for small clubs, but even there there's I've played gigs with a buddy who had a Peavey classic 30 who was completely buried by the drummer on louder rock tunes. Luckily he only played rhythm.

 

I tried gigging with a 15w amp once and it sounded like a friggin toy on stage. Maybe with some highly efficient speakers with an SPL of like 112db a 20W might be loud enough but your aren't going to scare anyone with it no less make their chest thump.

 

Its when you get out where the audience the real test of an amp really shines or dies.

15~20W, the peoples voices talking in the audience are going to produce more decibels then those amps do.

 

You can talk and be heard over a 30W amp fairly easily and a band can be playing a song long before a crowded table even notices. Even the Juke box going can be louder in most places around here.

 

50W in a medium club is the bare minimum I prefer. I don't have to mic it and can still hear the thing if I walk over to the far side of the club. I'm not going to make peoples chests thump with it but at least it wont sound like a mouse squeaking in the corner. If I'm playing classic to hard rock, in a club that seats 1000 or more I need at least a 100W head running a pair of cabs.

 

This isn't just a volume thing as far as loudness goes either. Its a matter of the footprint size and headroom a larger amp provides. A higher wattage head used at medium volumes vs a small amp running flat out is going to sound bigger at the same db levels. I like having reserve power too for when the crowd gets going.

 

Some crowds can get very loud and unless you can shock them a little with some kick, especially towards the end of a set. you really cant activate their emotions. Especially Beer drinkers, they're the worst. They not only get stupid when they drink, their hearing shuts down and everything that's say is closer to yelling. Anything they say to others is done in a raised voice you can hear across the room. (Its even worse here in Houston because allot of these guys shoot guns allot and their eardrums are shot)

 

Get a club full of them and conversations db levels in there are more then enough to completely mask a 50W amp. You'd be lucky if the people in the front row can hear you no less the people at the back of the club. You may make the bar tenders happy by not blowing them out. There again, if you're used to playing empty clubs playing elevator music it really doesn't matter what you use.

[DeepEnd]

. . . I've played gigs with a buddy who had a Peavey classic 30 who was completely buried by the drummer on louder rock tunes. Luckily he only played rhythm. . . .

There's a Classic 50/410 (50 Watts all tube 4X10) on the local (St. Louis) CraigsList and for grins I looked at some reviews. It's considered a good, solid amp but one or two guys commented that it wasn't loud enough. The OP's comment about a "LOUD drummer" leads me to believe a 50 Watter is the minimum for his needs.

[thatsbunk]

I'm not too familiar with the musical influences you list but as far as your budget goes perhaps a used hot rod deville & a tube screamer can get you where you need to be volume wise...

[speakerjones]

1000 seat clubs are going to have adequate sound systems. Nobody needs a full stack anymore. You're a sound man's nightmare.

[speakerjones]

I haven't gigged with the jca22, but I did get to try one out for about a week. It was the 1x12 combo. Sound-wise I thought it was great. Seemed like a solid build. Hung out in a loud rehearsal situation just fine. As to whether it will work for your situation, that depends. If most of the gigs you play have decent sound systems provided, you'll be in fine shape with 22 watts. That's the same wattage as a deluxe reverb, which is a pretty standard gigging amp. The other factor is the amount of clean headroom you need. If you need ultra clean sounds at very high volumes (and are not going to be mic'ed) then you probably want to go with something a little beefier. I would also recommend going with a 2x12 cab either way. My AC30 clone does just fine on hard rock gigs (almost always mic'ed) and a lot of the time I'll just leave it in 15 watt mode because I like the way it breaks up. I point it at my head so it only needs to be loud enough for me to hear it, and let the PA do the heavy lifting. Besides, a PA does a nice job of spreading the sound evenly throughout the audience, while guitar speakers themselves are notoriously beamy and narrow in their dispersion. They can be wicked loud to the people right in front of it, and soft and weak for those who aren't.