Really loud watts

PC_Dave

Fuzzdog;873440" said:

impmann said:



I used to get moaned at for being too loud with my Sessionette 75 being on 2 with an overdrive pedal into the front end.





My rig was a Sessionette and pedals for a while - the other guitarist in one band laughed when I turned up to the audition with it, as he had a 100w Marshall + 4x12" rig and mine looked hilarious in comparison.

Only volume level issues we ever used to have were about him not having enough headroom to keep up, as he was in love with that scoopy mids thing and had to crank the hell out of it to even keep up with the drums, whereas the Sessionette (which was basically all midrange) cut through and sat in the mix perfectly with the volume barely tickled.

Haha! That's amazing

Phil_aka_Pip

@Fuzzdog reminds me of when I had a jam session with a drummer, and a bass player who brought a fairly large 100W ss combo. I'd brought a Harley-Benton GA5 (a 5W combo with an 8" speaker, valve complement 1 off ECC83, 1 off EL84). I was asked to turn it down :-O

ICBM

Phil_aka_Pip said:

@Fuzzdog reminds me of when I had a jam session with a drummer, and a bass player who brought a fairly large 100W ss combo.

The effective volume of those varies a lot too.

I have the cabinet from an Ampeg 100W BA115 combo - I bought it for £50 as an uneconomical repair. I scrapped the amp section because it's probably the weakest, most gutless 100W bass amp I know of and not even worth repairing for myself - quite a surprise given the name on the front. I fitted the box with a speaker jack and now run it with my old 100W Peavey Century head, which sounds at least twice as loud, much more punchy and is comfortably giggable in a small space.

Phil_aka_Pip said:

I'd brought a Harley-Benton GA5 (a 5W combo with an 8" speaker, valve complement 1 off ECC83, 1 off EL84). I was asked to turn it down :-O

Same here when I played a real '59 Fender Tweed Champ . I had it up on a bar stool, and it was easily loud enough in a quiet bar… since I only wanted midrange overdrive in that band. It's been said that a cranked Champ is about as loud as a trumpet, and I'd probably agree with that.

PC_Dave

So much wisdom!

Thank you all for your comments.

57Deluxe

Wish I could be like David Watts

TJT1979

Fuzzdog said:

Only volume level issues we ever used to have were about him not having enough headroom to keep up, as he was in love with that scoopy mids thing and had to crank the hell out of it to even keep up with the drums, whereas the Sessionette (which was basically all midrange) cut through and sat in the mix perfectly with the volume barely tickled.

This!!

People underestimate hugely the importance of EQ. I play an Ampmaker P1800 (18W Marshall style with Power Scaling) with a 5 piece rock band - one other guitarist. Without micing I rarely get above 10 o'clock on the power knob. The amp just has the right mid and upper-mid frequencies.

My bandmate plays a horrible 100W Vox valve/SS hybrid which gets obscenely loud. But as soon as he clicks onto a more scoopy preset he disappears. (I've tried explaining this but mostly falls on deaf ears). EQ is VERY important!!