Gigging amps

[GodWentPUNK]

I play in a cover band my other guitarist used a two-rock amp and somehow has it at 18watts and he usually holds up fine. Again, as stated above, you're combo is fine. I went with a head/2x12 so that it would be easier on my back although I use a cart anyway to carry things around. For smaller venues, I have a Crate Palamino that is a 1x12 amp with 30 watts and I never go over a 5 on the master. In fact, I could use that amp even for the larger venues but it looks weird having all the room and a little amp sitting there

joe...

[Spivonious]

I play in a cover band my other guitarist used a two-rock amp and somehow has it at 18watts and he usually holds up fine. Again, as stated above, you're combo is fine. I went with a head/2x12 so that it would be easier on my back although I use a cart anyway to carry things around. For smaller venues, I have a Crate Palamino that is a 1x12 amp with 30 watts and I never go over a 5 on the master. In fact, I could use that amp even for the larger venues but it looks weird having all the room and a little amp sitting there

joe...

I have Vox AC4TV head that can easily get loud enough for playing in band. That little 4W amp looks pretty silly on top of a 4x12 though.

[GodWentPUNK]

I have Vox AC4TV head that can easily get loud enough for playing in band. That little 4W amp looks pretty silly on top of a 4x12 though.

I'm not sure whats up with these low watt amps heads but they seem to hold up well. Maybe I've been trained to think you need 100+ watts. When I see an amp that says 20 watts, I'll think it won't hold up but that is just not that case. I wonder if these amps have better articulation and can cut through the mix better because the volume is set higher, rather then my 100Watt amp set at 1.5?

joe...

[Grim]

When you get to 60W+ You are basically adding more headroom...

[Nightbat]

even 1W is enough to piss off neighbours

[Spivonious]

I'm not sure whats up with these low watt amps heads but they seem to hold up well. Maybe I've been trained to think you need 100+ watts. When I see an amp that says 20 watts, I'll think it won't hold up but that is just not that case. I wonder if these amps have better articulation and can cut through the mix better because the volume is set higher, rather then my 100Watt amp set at 1.5?

joe...

It's all just headroom. You need double the wattage to raise the volume 10dB (roughly twice as loud). If 4W all the way up is good for a band in a normal sized room, then 8W is good for a band with a crowd, 16W for a larger room, 32W for a club, 64W for a large club, 128W for a small arena, etc. Of course none of this matters when you're micing the amp.

As Nightbat said, even 1W is really loud. My Vox has a built-in attenuator that offers me 4W, 1W, and 1/4W settings. 1/4W I can turn up most of the way before I'd consider it loud. 1W I can't go over halfway before my wife complains.

As far as articulation, yes more headroom definitely helps with that because it's not distorting as much on that initial attack. Cut is more a function of more mid frequencies and doesn't really depend on power, as long as it's enough to balance with the other amplifiers. If I had to buy a gigging amp right now, I'd probably get a 20-30W 1x12.

[javert]

Double power is only 3 dB.

[Spivonious]

Double power is only 3 dB.

I stand corrected. It makes wattage even more useless related to volume. It is all about headroom so your notes aren't distorting when you don't want them to.

[javert]

Well, what we really should measure is loudness and how it relates to the output power of the amp, but that gets somewhat complicated. Psychoacoustics is really 50% black magic and 50% science

[roodyrocker]

Keep in mind some of these low watt amps are class A whereas many of the bigger amps we're used to are class A/B. I have gigged with my Bad Cat Hot Cat amp once. Its a 30w Class A amp, 1x12 combo. My singer complained it was small looking when we were setting up. After a bit of playing he said "Damn, that thing rips your head off!"
I also have the Vox AC4TV but for a low watt amp give the Marshall Class 5 a try

[Spivonious]

Keep in mind some of these low watt amps are class A whereas many of the bigger amps we're used to are class A/B. I have gigged with my Bad Cat Hot Cat amp once. Its a 30w Class A amp, 1x12 combo. My singer complained it was small looking when we were setting up. After a bit of playing he said "Damn, that thing rips your head off!"
I also have the Vox AC4TV but for a low watt amp give the Marshall Class 5 a try

Yep, the Vox is Class A. Pretty much any amp with one tube in the power section is Class A. I opened up my Vox a couple weeks after I bought it and was surprised at how simple and small it was. One 12AX7 and one EL84, both mounted to a tiny circuit board.