Members mysterybat35 Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 Hi, I recently attended a church which is relatively large in size. The guitar player looked to be using a small amp and it was plugged into various moniters and speakers. However the sound was carried throughout the entire church, and didn't seem to overpower the other instruments. The sound was very good. What I want to know is for an average pro guitarist, when they go on tours and such, do they rely mostly on monitors to carry their sound? If so what would be the ideal wattage for a guitar amp when performing in large concert halls or outdoors? Also, when using distortion effects, do pro guitarists generally keep the volume knobs low? I have a Proco Rat II and it is very loud even on a 40 Watt guitar amp. Thanks for all of your help! MB35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeremy Skrenes Posted March 27, 2006 Members Share Posted March 27, 2006 He probably had the amp miked or run through a direct box. Touring pros have tastes that are as varied as the products out there. Some run through stacks of marshall amps, others use no amps at all and run through stuff like a POD or other multi fx unit. It seems the trend is moving towards smaller amps with lower wattage, around 10-40 watts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mysterybat35 Posted March 28, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 with that being said, does anyone know of any current gutiarists that use relatively small amps on stage, and rely on other means for their sound to be carried ? Thanks MB35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members inang Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Carlos Santana?Eric Clapton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mysterybat35 Posted March 28, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Yep, I just went on guitargeek and saw that Eric Clapton used a small 50 watt amp? Was this for recording or for live sound? If it was for live sound then how could a mere 50 watt carry live? Did he use a lot of monitors or speaker cabinets? I did see that EC had another set that was used, in which he had 2 100 watt heads, but that still is relatively low wattage? Or is it? If that is not the case, then I can actually go buy a decent 200 watt amp for $400 bucks and I would have all I need to play live? As you can see I have never done anything really live before so if anyone could give me tips on amp wattage , that would be great. Thanks MB35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CS Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 1 The watt is a measurement of power not volume. A 50 watt amp means that the amp is capable of 50 watts before distortion. So if someone is running a valve (tube) amp at full it is delivering more than it's rated power. Even that is meaningless because a 4x12 cab is louder than a 1x12 cab. Even that is misleading because different speakers have different efficiency ratings. The Greenback is 97db and the Blue is 100db and the Neo is 102db. You can get the same volume increase by changing speakers (depending on the speakers) as you can by doubling the wattage. Yep doubling wattage increases volume by 3db. To double volume you have to increase the wattage by 10db. So in order to half the volume from say 100w you need to use a 10w amp (with the same speakers). 2 So realising that wattage means nothing... Some players prefer a low power amp driven hard and others a larger amp barely on. It all depends on the sound (ie overdrive). I played a festival (ie outdoors) with a 30w 1x12 combo (with a 100db greenback) with the volume on 6. I had the combo on a stand and didnt use monitors. The amp was breaking up nicely and the only reason I didnt use a 15w combo was that it was being repaired. Oh and I had 20db reduction earplugs. 3 Some players like monitors some players like IEM's. Some players let you think they are using a stack but the real amp is in a flightcase offstage. Rick Nielson(? cheap trick guy) uses a Fender Twin in a flightcase and the stage sound is purely from monitors. This is so he can crank a Twin to his liking. Neil Young reputedly had fake 4x12 cabs with small combos in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mysterybat35 Posted March 29, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 29, 2006 thanks man . That helped out a lot Keep it up!!! mB35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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