I don’t know but I have a strange urge to gig a couple of 20 watt heads instead of a 100!
I currently gig an EVH 100 and a matching 4x12 , sometimes an EVH 50 with 1 or 2 2x12’s or 2x 1x12’’s depending on venue mood or even a Marshall DSL100HR and 4x12 or 2x12’s. 50 watts has been a minimum for our gigs (yes I know the amps aren’t cranked all the way) up until now but for quality or quantity of sound it seems to work. Am I missing a trick? Soloing cuts through due to having enough headroom oomph! We only play pubs.
For a change I fancy maybe a pair of Marshall’s? Jcm and a jubilee? Or a pink taco and an SV or stunt and an origin?
I have a couple of CA ported 2x12’s I can use.
Am I going bonkers with age or is this potentially a disaster/master stroke waiting to happen?
Advantages/disadvantages?
Against- More to load into the car.
Spread of sound- better? Not worth it? Can change one of the amps to find the best pairing (for me)
Discuss my options………..
Advise for or against………
Hell put me off and steer me in another direction!
I have a Gigrig G2 so setting up would be reasonably straight forward! Forgot to say I play in a four piece classic rock band which has been known to get quite raucous on occasion! One bass one guitar and pots n pans
Am I just losing the plot?
Comments
Interestingly although they were supposedly identical, they didn't sound quite the same - one was middier and rougher, the other cleaner and clearer. It was definitely the amp sections - I tried swapping speakers and valves to try to get them sounding identical (for proper stereo) but in the end I think it sounded better with them slightly different.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I built the heads into a pair of Deluxe-sized 1x12 combos, so the overall sound was fairly deep, the spread was obviously excellent and of course it meant I always had a spare amp with me.
I like a fair bit more headroom than most and I'd say 2x Marshall type 20w circuits were adequate rather than effortless.
I would happily do it again with my current pair of HRDs but I just don't have room in the car unless there's a house PA.
I run a pair of 1x12s with a G12H30 Anni in the cab for the Egnater and G12H75 Creamback in the cab for the Fender. A pair of 1x12s and a pair of heads isn’t that much more to carry.
Pros:
- great sound if you can get different amps that fill in each others frequencies
- built-in redundancy in case of an amp failure
- can be stacked on top of each other if stage space is tight
- it's just fun trying these things out....
Cons:
- bit more to carry
- no-one really notices stereo in a live setting, unless you're stood in the perfect spot
I always fed both amps from the stereo-outs of the last pedal on my board. In theory there's the potential for phasing issues, ground loops etc, but I never experienced these in many years of trying it.
30W and a 2x12" or 50W and a 1x12" is a safer bet. Obviously going through the PA as well makes it a moot point.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
@rockmonster thanks Rod, back to the drawing board then.
Also if you mic the cab it would be enough, in my old band I did some "proper" gigs with soundman etc and had my volume on 6 and the amp going through a backline 4x12. Sounded great and I still had some headroom for solos.
I did some auditions/jams with another band. The 15w combo was drowned out. My 2x12 bad cat 30 was distorting. There were volume wars each time, I wore industrial earplugs, no cleans, couldn't hear properly. Drummer couldn't play less than loud.
For me a 15w vox type amp on the edge of breakup is an ideal set up. However it's hard to find a band that can play that quietly.
I currently gig with a 15w Matchless
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
What sort of venues do you play and what are you thinking about when you say 'spread'?
I've run two amps in the past and these days I use a Helix where most of my patches have two amp paths. I always ran with two different amps or a wet / dry setup.
Maybe a third of our gigs are (were) in pubs where there is no point in stereo due to the asymmetrical nature of the room but even where we had stages / symmetry there are very few members of the audience in the right place to appreciate stereo. We have PA cabs either side of the stage but it's about spread rather than stereo. Panning is very narrow (10 - 2 o'clock).
If you are looking to go down the identical amps route then I'd say that you would be better off with a slightly larger head and two cabs.
Headroom is definitely the major issue with lower output power, rather than outright volume. A 100dB speaker - if you're currently using a 97dB - is like doubling the power of the amp, so it might make enough of a difference.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Apart from an early spell with a 2 channel, 40w 1x12 combo then I've only ever gigged with a single amp in the 18-22w range.
Initially with a 1x12, moving to a 2x12 brought a range of benefits.
I don't require a pristine clean, but nor am I playing with anything beyond what might be classed as early 70's levels of gain.
And I'm running around half to two-thirds of the amp's power - inside or outside, I've never required more. Occasional mic'ing.
Good clean and mid boost pedals for leads.
Originally in a two guitar band, now only the one guitar.
Certainly not questioning the observations or experiences of other folks, above, but there are circumstances where it is very very much do-able.