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Anyone gig with a 5W amp?


kyrreca

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I've used a 10 watt amp, 15 watt, 30 watt, 50 watt, 75 watt, 100 watt, 150 watts... I get a good tone with all of them but I have to say it is not as fun for me to use a 10 watt amp as compared to a 50 or 100 watter. Yeah, I'd have to say I could use 10 watts all the time but why?

 

 

I started getting back pain lugging my 4x12 around everywhere. Not the best reason to sell a Marshall Half stack, there were other reasons. Big amps sure are fun, but to me they tend to be too strong soundwise, whereas smaller amps have that 'what are you doing to me?!?!' type feel. And no I don't feel the same way about women.

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I don't know if this helps, but I just rented a 20w traynor tube amp for where Ill be playing all next week. I've been testing it out and it is sick! More than enough clean headroom for where I'll be playing.

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You don't know how much!
:D

I hate doing live sound, and I've been as displeased with some "sound people" as much as any other musician. But while some sound guys can be real jerks, I have to agree that if the band is killing you with stage volume from multiple 100W amps, there's not a lot left you can do to give them a good mix. At some point, you start driving the room, and it starts acoustically compressing things, and no matter how much you bring something up in the PA (assuming you're willing to throw any state / local / Federal SPL related regulations out the window by doing so...), it's not going to really get any louder in the room - it's out of your hands, and the band is basically mixing themselves acoustically, at whatever balance their relative individual playing and instrument / amp levels happen to be at the moment. Oh, and you can forget about hearing / understanding any vocals...


Small amps are wonderful IMO, but I "live" in a studio most of my life, and in there I don't need tons of SPL (sound pressure level - "volume"), but when I do gig, I do like to have a decent amount of clean headroom. I'm not that into playing really loud either, because I try to protect my hearing... so I usually find a 15-20W amp usually works for me, or better yet, two of them for stereo. Then I feel I can play clean loudly enough for my tastes, without straining the amp or struggling to hear myself over the drummer.


Of course, if you have a great PA, and someone who knows how to use it (there are a few of those folks out there, and bands should at least learn enough about live sound to be able to tell the difference between the two IMO), and enough time for a decent sound check, and to get a monitor mix you're happy with, you could probably gig with one of those battery powered mini-Fender or Marshall amps or a "Little Smokey"... and a 5W amp can actually put out some decent volume... but for me, it's just not quite enough IMO, because you really can't rely on getting that good monitor mix, so you may need enough juice in reserve to, if not kill the first three rows, be able to hear yourself over the drums when you're playing "clean".
;)




You know what the best solution to this problem is?

Having the {censored}ers TURN THEIR AMPS AROUND. You can blast a 100w amp if you want...as long as the thing is facing the wall so the in-house mix doesn't sound like donkey ass.

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You know what the best solution to this problem is?


Having the {censored}ers TURN THEIR AMPS AROUND. You can blast a 100w amp if you want...as long as the thing is facing the wall so the in-house mix doesn't sound like donkey ass.

 

 

I don't know why it took us so long to figure this out, but since the sound guy at my church has started having me turn my amp around, everything works MUCH better - I can turn up a bit more, hear myself better, and not blast the octagenarians in the front row!

 

Phil's setup is really nice too - 15-20 watts, and I love the way 1x12 speakers sound - real punchy and clear. I can't wait till I get my 5E3 to go with my Ghia - cuz stereo is awesome.

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I don't know why it took us so long to figure this out, but since the sound guy at my church has started having me turn my amp around, everything works MUCH better - I can turn up a bit more, hear myself better, and not blast the octagenarians in the front row!


Phil's setup is really nice too - 15-20 watts, and I love the way 1x12 speakers sound - real punchy and clear. I can't wait till I get my 5E3 to go with my Ghia - cuz stereo is awesome.

 

 

Indeed.

 

I use a 5w amp at church, but I still turn it around, because that sucker can push some air when it's in a sweet spot.

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You don't know how much!
:D

I hate doing live sound, and I've been as displeased with some "sound people" as much as any other musician. But while some sound guys can be real jerks, I have to agree that if the band is killing you with stage volume from multiple 100W amps, there's not a lot left you can do to give them a good mix. At some point, you start driving the room, and
it starts acoustically compressing things, and no matter how much you bring something up in the PA (assuming you're willing to throw any state / local / Federal SPL related regulations out the window by doing so...), it's not going to really get any louder in the room - it's out of your hands, and the band is basically mixing themselves acoustically, at whatever balance their relative individual playing and instrument / amp levels happen to be at the moment. Oh, and you can forget about hearing / understanding any vocals...


Small amps are wonderful IMO, but I "live" in a studio most of my life, and in there I don't need tons of SPL (sound pressure level - "volume"), but when I do gig, I do like to have a decent amount of clean headroom. I'm not that into playing really loud either, because I try to protect my hearing... so I usually find a 15-20W amp usually works for me, or better yet, two of them for stereo. Then I feel I can play clean loudly enough for my tastes, without straining the amp or struggling to hear myself over the drummer.


Of course, if you have a great PA, and someone who knows how to use it (there are a few of those folks out there, and bands should at least learn enough about live sound to be able to tell the difference between the two IMO), and enough time for a decent sound check, and to get a monitor mix you're happy with, you could probably gig with one of those battery powered mini-Fender or Marshall amps or a "Little Smokey"... and a 5W amp can actually put out some decent volume... but for me, it's just not quite enough IMO, because you really can't rely on getting that good monitor mix, so you may need enough juice in reserve to, if not kill the first three rows, be able to hear yourself over the drums when you're playing "clean".
;)



Am I the only one who generally enjoys this sound? {censored} vocals.

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5w champ sounds pretty nice through a 1x12 cab:thu:

 

 

I've been running through a Genz Benz gflex 2x12.

 

Big/clean/efficient speakers for a 5w amp. Not to mention the tuned ports make this sumbitch the loudest cabinet I've ever used. Seriously.

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Of course, if you have a great PA, and someone who knows how to use it (there are a few of those folks out there, and bands should at least learn enough about live sound to be able to tell the difference between the two IMO), and enough time for a decent sound check, and to get a monitor mix you're happy with, you could probably gig with one of those battery powered mini-Fender or Marshall amps or a "Little Smokey"... and a 5W amp can actually put out some decent volume... but for me, it's just not quite enough IMO, because you really can't rely on getting that good monitor mix, so you may need enough juice in reserve to, if not kill the first three rows, be able to hear yourself over the drums when you're playing "clean".
;)



That's exactly right.


I once gigged with my little Marshall MS-2 Mini-Stack, un-miced, and there just was not enough juice to hear my guitar properly above the crowd. And I had that thing cranked & the tone knob dimed for a big midrange presence.

Yet when I was practicing on my own, it was quite loud I gotta say.

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