300 Watt amps?

[Number Of The Priest]

What's this I hear about the new Line 6 amp being 300W? When will you ever need that much power? And aren't there some bass amps that are 1500W or more? Jeez! It's not like an artist or band has to project their sound to the back of the arena using their amp alone, right? How are you even supposed to practice at home with a thick saturated tone if all you have is a 300W monster turned down low enough so neighbours don't call the cops on you?

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[LesPaulCustom]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

There is also some new Marshall that is supposed to be incredibly loud too.....I don't get it [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

A 50 watt combo or 1/2 stack is really about all you ever need for stage volume....miking or direct does the rest through the PA.

My 2:90 is too loud for any gig I have ever done...and my new 50/50 has some serious nuts also....I am sure I will never even begin to use it all....the lil fvucker is LOUD.

With Bass...it is a different story....it takes more energy to move the lower frequencies...that is why they commonly bi amp and tri amp etc. for high end bass systems...but 1500 Watts seems a lil overkill.....

That is my 0.02$ worth....I am sure people will disagree with me......which is cool......

[Hotrodder]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

The number one complant about the Line6 amps is that they get lost in the mix.. So they just they add more watts so you can hear them better.

Also solid state amps tend to sound quieter than tube amps, I jammed with someone using a 10 watt fender solid state amp, and my 10 watt fender tube amp (Champ12) seemed twice as loud. He switched to a 30 watt peavey to keep up with me.

The new Marshall Mode 4 is 350 watts of nasty sound. [img]graemlins/sleep.gif[/img]

[StukaJU87]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

And aren't there some bass amps that are 1500W or more? Jeez! It's not like an artist or band has to project their sound to the back of the arena using their amp alone, right?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">My brother has one of those Ampeg SVT rack mount bass amps that has a stupid amount of wattage. I can't remember just how much. When I asked him how come he needs so much power( he plays in a soul band), he said something about clean power and bottom end punch.

[Black Mariah]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

Bass is a completely different animal. That amp might be 1500 watts, but most bassists will use maybe one tenth of that power, ever. For soul music, funk, country, and even some rock styles, you want as clean a bass tone as possible. A higher wattage amp, like the Ampegs, has more clean headroom than a hundred watter.

[jgcable]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Hotrodder:
[QB] The number one complant about the Line6 amps is that they get lost in the mix.. So they just they add more watts so you can hear them better.


You nailed it bro...

[Twisteramps]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

Plus the fact that a tube amp overdriving a little bit sounds great... a solid state amp overdriving the power stage at all sounds HORRIBLE. So, you want a lot more headroom.

Pete
(who should be receiving his Vetta Friday...) [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

Oh, believe me, I don't even think I'd ever need to push the power stage on my 50W solid-state amp. It's PLENTY LOUD at volume 2 already!!!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Man, why the hell did I buy something that powerful when I keep the amp in the basement all the time anyways? Stupid salesmen taking advantage of my large wad of cash and newbieness... LOL!!! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Misanthrope189]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

Well, in addition to what was said earlier, concerning complaints that Line 6 amps get lost in the mix, so more wattage is added, it seems that people think more is better. A friend I played in a band with a while ago, said "wow, 100 watts, that's not a lot at all man" and I just let it go...figuring, "maybe since he plays bass, he's used to his 300 watts of power in his amp" but it's situations like that, where people don't understand how far 100 watts can go when it's a quality amp. So you hear, "350 watt Marshall?! Awesome!"

Cheers,
Nick

[Ace]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

Solid state sound like crap to me when it's cranked, no matter what the wattage. My loud guitar tone is like a wild animal. Mean as hell, and you have to really learn to keep a handle on it, but it will growl and snarl like a if you know how to handle the reigns. Anything analog in my signal chain, even a MT2, kills the wildness of it all. At 120W of tube, there is just about no way that I am going to get lost in the mix. Matt Pike from High On Fire runs a total of something like 1180W in his live rig, between 2 100W Matamp heads with no master volume, and several rack mount power amps and slave units. I forget exactly what he has, but that's just how I remember it. THAT'S f'in loud. They've had the fire marshall shut down their shows for being too loud.

[Twisteramps]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

Originally posted by Misanthrope189:
Well, in addition to what was said earlier, concerning complaints that Line 6 amps get lost in the mix, so more wattage is added, it seems that people think more is better. A friend I played in a band with a while ago, said "wow, 100 watts, that's not a lot at all man" and I just let it go...figuring, "maybe since he plays bass, he's used to his 300 watts of power in his amp" but it's situations like that, where people don't understand how far 100 watts can go when it's a quality amp. So you hear, "350 watt Marshall?! Awesome!"

Cheers,
Nick

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yep, I've had a lot of emails from people thinking I'm nuts for building a 5-15 watt power amp. Then again, I've had a lot of emails from people saying how loud 5-15 watts can be. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Different strokes for different folks. BTW, ordered my Vetta today - will be in friday. Properly dialed in, they cut just fine... and once I'm done getting my tones out of it, I look forward to people asking about it between sets. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Pete

[Black Mariah]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

I know how loud those 5-15 watts can be. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Louder than a Carvin, that's for damn sure...

Ace: SunnO)))'s last tour in Europe and a few dates in the states they were playing through SIX freaking Model T half stacks. That's 720 watts just from the damn amps. Wish I had that kind of power... mmmm.... Sunnalicious... [img]graemlins/drool2.gif[/img]

[ColdVayne]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

My friend has a Mode four marshall and a modded peavey 5150 , and he runs them in stereo for our gigs while i use my Diezel herbert and my VHT UL , in stereo and i play mine at 2 or 3 and he plays his at 4 to 5 , sometimes even louder , just to be even heard. My deizel is 180 watts and my vht UL is 120 watts , while his MF Marshall is 350 watts and his 5150 is 120 watts.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

i play a 50 watt boogie with a verticle 2x12 and i can be as loud as i want at anygig and never have to worry about getting drowned out, hell usually i'm asked to turn down.

[markD]

Re: 300 Watt amps?

I don't get the excessive wattage thing. Live I'll use a 100 watt Rivera M-100 bumped down to 10 watts (triode/half power) so I can get enough power amp saturation. Even at the biggest venues (theatre sized) I'll use that M-100 plus 2 Rivera Hammer 120 power amps running extra cabs, but even those are running triode/half power. I guess the over-wattage thing must be a selling point to little kids or something. Although, I do have to say my Line 6 Flextone II HD is 200 watts, but it's not that loud...I'll end up slaving it to a tube power amp if I ever use it live (not likely though).